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Copyright infringement can cover a piece of intellectual property in whole or in part. And reproduction of that copyrighted property can be prosecutable for the entire work, or just parts of the work.
However, if someone sues you for just parts of the work that were reproduced, they have to prove that those parts were unique to ONLY their property at the time it was created.
Case and point... music. There's been literally thousands of lawsuits filed by musicians who claim that a loop or melody in their song was reproduced in another person's song. A loop can be just one part of the entire piece of work.
Some of these cases can be proven, some can not. They have to show 100% reproduction of that one PIECE of work, not necessarily the entire thing as a whole.
But again, it's the burden of the accuser to prove this, and to prove that the parts allegedly stolen were unique to them at the time they were produced.
PS: I am not a lawyer, but I have spoken to a few about patents and copyrights over the years.
PPS: Such proof that a piece of work was copyrighted to a particular company or individual at a certain time can be unconditionally substanciated if that person had simply registered the copyright with the US Copyright Office soon after the time of production. If it's on file, it's a gold standard to win 99% of the cases of copyright infringement.
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Ouch.
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