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.