[78-L] Hi-yo Columbo (not Cristofo), wuz Re: Heigh-ho Silver!

[Michael Biel]

This is the part of the wackypedia article Lennick posted that is
related to something I brought up last week -- the inclusion of a false
entry in a discography to expose copying.  Note that legally it didn't
work.


-------- Original Message --------
!
From: David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>

The name "Philip Columbo," was, in fact, invented by Fred L. Worth, in
whose 
book, The Trivia Encyclopedia, the fictitious entry about Columbo's
first name 
was actually a "copyright trap" – a deliberately false statement
intended to 
reveal subsequent copyright infringement.[contradiction][21] Ultimately,

however, Worth's ploy was not successful. In 1984, he filed a $300
million 
lawsuit against the distributors of the board game, Trivial Pursuit,
claiming 
that they had sourced their questions from his book, even to the point
of 
reproducing typographical errors contained in the book. Worth's suit
revolved 
around the use of the name, "Philip Columbo", included in a
game-question about 
Lt Columbo. The makers of Trivial Pursuit did not deny that they sourced

material from Worth's book, but argued there was nothing improper about
using 
the book, as one of a number of other references, in the process of
building 
game-questions. The judge agreed, ruling in favor of Trivial Pursuit,
and the 
case was dismissed.[21] Worth appealed, but the Court of Appeals for the
Ninth 
Circuit affirmed.[22] Worth asked the United States Supreme Court to
hear the 
case, but it declined.[23]