Copyright protects “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories:
+ (1) literary works; + (2) musical works, including any accompanying words + (3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music + (4) pantomimes and choreographic works + (5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works + (6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works + (7) sound recordings + (8) architectural works
These categories should be viewed broadly. For example, computer programs and most “compilations” may be registered as “literary works”; maps and architectural plans may be registered as “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.”
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What is not protected by copyright?
Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include among others:
+ Works that have not been fixed
in a tangible form of expression
(for example, choreographic
works that have not been notated or
recorded, or improvisational
speeches or performances that have not
been written or recorded)
+ Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans;
familiar symbols or
designs; mere variations of
typographic ornamentation, lettering, or
coloring; mere listings of
ingredients or contents
+ Ideas, procedures, methods, systems,
processes, concepts,
principles, discoveries, or
devices, as distinguished from a
description, explanation,
or illustration
+ Works consisting entirely of
information that is common property
and containing no original
authorship (for example: standard
calendars, height and weight
charts, tape measures and rulers, and
lists or tables taken from
public documents or other common sources)
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HOW TO SECURE A COPYRIGHT
Copyright Secured Automatically upon Creation
The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright. (See following Note.) There are, however, certain definite advantages to registration. See “Copyright Registration.” Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. “Copies” are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. “Phonorecords” are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture soundtracks), such as cassette tapes, CDs, or LPs. Thus, for example, a song (the “work”) can be fixed in sheet music (” copies”) or in phonograph disks (” phonorecords"), or both.