Copyright Registrations for Emoticons and Emojis

May 31, 2017 · by · in Copyright, Emojis

[This is the first of a series of excerpts from my Emojis and the Law paper. Note that I’ve created a new blog category for “Emojis”–the first new category in years!]

In my Emojis and the Law paper, I analyzed when individual emojis and emoticons, emoticon and emoji sets and emoji “house styles” may be copyrightable. For a discussion about the substantive legal doctrine, see the article.

As part of this research, on March 1, 2017, I searched the Copyright Office registration database for the keyword “emoticon.” Because emoticons or emoticon-like images can be registered without referencing the word “emoticon,” this search is surely underinclusive.

I got 24 results, a few of which might be individual emoticons or emoticon sets. The registrations that seemed most likely to include individual emoticons or emoticon sets: VAu000690551 / 2006-01-26 (Carnegie Fabrics); VA0002014215 / 2016-05-03 (Disney Enterprises, for “Emoticon Mickey”); VA0001814013 / 2012-03-26 (David Rand, for “Emoticon “;p” Key Design for Print”); VAu001017590 / 2010-01-07 (Blue Man Productions, for “Emoticon Project Sketches”); VA0000721183 / 1995-04-18 (William Sniffen); VA0001078477 / 2001-03-23 (Stephen Engel); VAu001181706 / 2014-08-15 (GNR8N Kulture).

Separately, on January 20, 2017, I searched the Copyright Office registration database for registrations containing the word “emoji.” As with the emoticon word search, this is surely an underinclusive search.

I came up with 89 records containing the term, of which (judging solely from the titles) about half appear to be registrations for individual emojis or emoji sets.

coke-emoji-3It was particularly noteworthy that the Coca-Cola Company registered 40 emojis (or sets of emojis) on two consecutive days in 2015. See VAu001220148 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220003 / 2015-06-17, VAu001220015 / 2015-06-17, VAu001220007 / 2015-06-17, VAu001220005 / 2015-06-17, VAu001220009 / 2015-06-17, VAu001220017 / 2015-06-17, VAu001220018 / 2015-06-17, VAu001220008 / 2015-06-17, VAu001220004 / 2015-06-17, VAu001220006 / 2015-06-17, VAu001220019 / 2015-06-17, VAu001220150 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220149 / 2015-06-18, VAu001219970 / 2015-06-18, VAu001219977 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220151 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220152 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220154 / 2015-06-18, VAu001219979 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220144 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220157 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220156 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220038 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220026 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220037 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220036 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220035 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220033 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220258 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220260 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220248 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220236 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220034 / 2015-06-18, VAu001219993 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220023 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220247 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220246 / 2015-06-18, VAu001220237 / 2015-06-18. I emailed the Coca-Cola copyright lawyer to ask about these registration but she declined comment. I wonder if it has anything to do with their emoji domain project.

Other possible examples of emoji copyright registrations include: VA0001998998 / 2015-12-23 (Sketchers Company); VA0001928725 / 2014-09-25 (Insytes Design Group LLC, for a “wishful emoji,” apparently for upholstery fabric); VAu001241008 / 2016-04-15 (Idea Nuevo, for a set of 8 unpublished emojis); VA0001881566 / 2013-08-12 (Viva Time); VAu001250187 / 2016-04-12 (High Point Design); VAu001187425 / 2014-09-23 (ju already kno, which includes a “emoji hands finger hole”); VA0002023053 / 2016-06-28 (Nosakhare Ogbebor for “flirty emojis”).

If you have other examples of copyright registrations for emoticons or emojis, I’d be grateful for the references.

I kept electronic copies of my searches if you want to see the backup.