Is a product description copyrighted?

Question

Is any product description on a website (such as Nintendo, for a certain game, or Sony for a DVD player) copyrighted so that it cannot be used on your own site?
I noticed Amazon took exact product descriptions from the company source, does this involve permission or payment?

Answer 1

Aspects of a product description may be protected by copyright. In particular, the creative aspects of the product description may be protected. However, I suspect much of the information provided within a typical product description is not protected by copyright.

That said, I would be surprised if any company sued someone for using a product description in connection with the sale of the product. The product description was written by marketing people for the purpose of selling the product. So Amazon's use of the product description is exactly what the product description was written for.

Contrary to the answer above, the USPTO does not handle the registration of copyrights. The Copyright Office handles the registration of copyrights. It should be noted that just because a work is registered with the Copyright Office does not mean every aspect (or any aspect) of the submitted work is protected by copyright. You or your legal counsel will have to make that determination.

Answer 2

Description of the products such as Nintendo and Sony are registered with the Patent Office and cannot be copied.