The term “de minimis” comes from the legal principle “de minimis non curat lex,” which means “the law does not take notice of very small or trifling matters.” As the Supreme Court stated, “copyright protects only those constituent elements of a work that possess more than a de minimis quantum of creativity.” Works that contain no expression or only a de minimis amount of original expression are not copyrightable and cannot be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.
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