The thrust of the Supreme Court's ruling in Feist was not to erect a high barrier of originality
requirement. It was rather to specify, rejecting the strain of lower court rulings that sought to base
protection on the 'sweat of the brow,' that some originality is essential to protection of authorship, and
that the protection afforded extends only to those original elements. Because the protection is so
limited, there is no reason under the policies of the copyright law to demand a high degree of originality.
To the contrary, such a requirement would be counterproductive. The policy embodied into law is to
encourage authors to publish innovations for the common good -- not to threaten them with loss of
their livelihood if their works of authorship are found insufficiently imaginative