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[boozerker]

The legal wording on contracts, forms, online user/software agreements, cease & desist letters, wills, marriage prenuptials, etc...do they get copyright protection?

[Cotman IP]

Yes assuming the document is authored with a requisite level of originality and not a simple recitation of facts. Generally speaking, legal documents are works of authorship so copyright vests with the author on creation. Most documents like this are written by an attorney who is a law firm employee so the work is usually a work for hire and thus the law firm the attorney works for is typically the copyright owner. Fair use may be applicable as a defense depending on the circumstances.

[xyzzy]

Cotman IP, I understand that within the letter of the law, all works possessing the requisite modicum of originality are protected by copyright law.  However, law is filled with "boilerplate" language, and in the legal field, wholesale copying of clauses and even entire documents is the norm, not the exception.  Have you ever heard of a case in which a copyright claim to a legal document was upheld?  I would think that protection would be fairly thin.

[bleedingpen]

Many courts encourage you to copy other parties' briefs as a manner of saving money and providing consistency. 

[chugan]

Many courts encourage you to copy other parties' briefs as a manner of saving money and providing consistency. 

Yikes!  Lawyers are sanctioned for this........google "Peter Cannon."

I assume you meant citing case law........

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