Provided they are sufficiently unique, fictional characters can
be protected as 'derivative works' separately from the
stories they are featured in. Courts have established the following
two tests to determine whether fictional characters merit copyright
protection:
1. the "story being told" test, which requires the
character to actually constitute the story being told and not
simply be a vehicle for telling the story; and
2. the "especially distinctive" test, also known as
the "character delineation" test, which requires the
character to be well developed and delineated with consistent,
widely identifiable traits
The first case to suggest a test for whether or not characters
can be copyrighted, Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. v. Columbia
Broadcasting System, Inc., 216 F.2d 945 (9th Cir.1954), stated
that literary characters are entitled to copyright protection if
the character constitutes "the story being told;"
however, if the character is "only the chessman in
