United States Court of Appeals, 10th division

“ In addition, the work must "possesses at least some minimal degree of creativity," Feist, 499 U.S. at 345; see also William F. Patry, Patry on Copyright § 3:27 ("both independent creation and a minimal degree of creativity are required") , though this is not to say that to count as containing a minimal degree of creativity a work must have aesthetic merit in the minds of judges (arguably not always the most artistically discerning lot) . As the Court explained through Justice Holmes, even "a very modest grade of art has in it something irreducible, which is one man's alone. ”

“ It is certainly true that what Meshwerks accomplished was a peculiar kind of copying. It did not seek to recreate Toyota vehicles outright – steel, rubber, and all; instead, it sought to depict Toyota’s three-dimensional physical objects in a two-dimensional digital medium. But we hold, as many before us have already suggested, that, standing alone, " [t] he fact that a work in one medium has been copied from a work in another medium does not render it any the less a 'copy.'" Nimmer on Copyright § 8.01 [B] ”

“ If an artist affirmatively sets out to be unoriginal – to make a copy of someone else's creation, rather than to create an original work – it is far more likely that the resultant product will, in fact, be unoriginal. See Russ VerSteeg, Intent, Originality, Creativity and Joint Authorship, 68 Brook. ”

“ Based on these measurements, modeling software then generated a digital image resembling a wire-frame model. In other words, the vehicles' data points (measurements) were mapped onto a computerized grid and the modeling software connected the dots to create a "wire frame" of each vehicle.
At this point, however, the on-screen image remained far from perfect and manual "modeling" was necessary. Meshwerks personnel fine-tuned or, as the company prefers it, "sculpted," the lines on screen to resemble each vehicle as closely as possible. ”

“ The Constitution authorizes Congress " [t] o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." ”

“ See Bridgeman Art Library, Ltd., 36 F. Supp. 2d at 199 (noting that "a copy in a new medium is copyrightable only where, as often but not always is the case, the copier makes some identifiable original contribution") . ”

“ Toyota's vehicles, and Meshwerks' invoice submitted to G&W for payment reflects that this is exactly the service Meshwerks performed. Aplt's App. at 113, 115. Meshwerks itself has consistently described digitization and modeling as an attempt accurately to depict real-world, three-dimensional objects as digital images viewable on a computer screen. See, e.g., id. at 369 ("the graphic sculptor is not intending to 'redesign' the product, he or she is attempting to depict that object in the most realistic way") ; id. at 370 (goal is "to create a realistic depiction on the computer screen") ”