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07/04/2003 Archived Entry: "Derivative works and copyright"

Found It's a Mod, Mod World from February's IEEE Spectrum (not to be confused with the identically named article from Gamespot). The article goes into the case against a publisher of Duke Nukem user-made mods. Although an initial ruling found the mod compilation was not a derivative work, upon appeal this ruling was overturned:

"Kozinski found that because 'the displays assumed a concrete or permanent form in the map files, they were derivative works.' The ruling set a precedent: no amount of modification to a copyrighted or patented game element voids the owner's rights."

I'm not particularly concerned about compilations per se, but does anyone else find this pronouncement a bit (sweeping? concerning? provoking?)