Copyright Registrations for Emoticons and 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.

It 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.