original expression
Novel turn of phrase
Original expression refers to creative work that originates from the author rather than being copied or derived from others.
The phrase appears most often in copyright law, where original expression—not facts or ideas themselves—receives legal protection.
The court found sufficient original expression in the author's arrangement of historical events.
Any unique articulation of thought counts: Her photography shows real original expression.
- copyrightExclusive reproduction rights
- intellectual propertyLegal rights over inventions
- brainstormingGenerating many ideas freely
- poetryMetrical literary composition
- lineContinuous mark or queue
painting · authorship · artistic vision · improvisation · happy accident · ideation · free association · music composition · sculpture · experimentation · divergent thinking · scribble · stream of consciousness · synthesis · dance · movement · gesture · spark
original expressioncliché
Overused, unoriginal expression
platitude · stock phrase · tired expression · bromide · banality
original, originally, originality, originals, originate, originated, originating, origination, originator