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COPYRIGHT
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What is a copyright?
Copyright is a legal term describing rights given to creators for their literary and artistic works. The
kinds of works covered by copyright include: literary works such as novels, poems, plays, reference works, newspapers
and computer programs; databases; films, musical compositions, and choreography; artistic works such as paintings,
drawings, photographs and sculpture; architecture; and advertisements, maps and technical drawings.
Copyrighting your creative work protects it from unauthorized use. With a registered copyright, you control how your work
is reproduced, distributed and presented publicly. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.
Material not protected by copyright (or otherwise protected) is available for use by anyone without the author's consent.
Works protected by copyright: A copyright gives certain exclusive rights to persons who create original works of
authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to
both published and unpublished works. 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
Registering your copyright: The U.S. Copyright Office registers several different kinds of work. The following is a
general overview of the different kinds of work(s) that can be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.
Literary Work: Non dramatic written work not meant for performance of any kind, excluding a periodical or serial
issue. Literary Works include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, textbooks, reference works, directories, catalogs, advertising copy, compilations of information, computer programs and databases.
Work of the Visual Arts: Visual Arts Works include two or three dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied
art, photographs, prints and art reproductions, maps, technical drawings, and architectural works.
Work of the Performing Arts:
Performing arts works include musical work (with or without lyrics), dramatic work, such as a screenplay, play or other script, a pantomime, or a choreographic work. Works of Performing Arts
that also include a sound recording, are considered Sound Recording Works.
Sound Recording Work
A Sound Recording results from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other
sounds. The author of a sound recording is the performer(s) whose performance is fixed, or the record producer who processes the sounds and fixes them in the final recording, or both.
Sound recording registration can include both the sound recording and the underlying recorded musical, dramatic,
or literary work(s), along with the sound recording of the work(s). To register both the sound recording and the
underlying work on a single application, the copyright claimant must own all rights in both works.
With one exception, sound recordings are works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or
other sounds. Exception: Under the copyright law, the sounds that accompany an audiovisual work, for example, a
motion picture, are not defined as a sound recording but rather Motion Picture/Audiovisual.
Motion Picture/Audiovisual Work
: A Motion Picture or Audiovisual Work can include a feature film, documentary
film, animated film, television show, video, video game, or other audiovisual work. An audiovisual work is a work
that consists of a series of related images that are intended to be shown by the use of a machine or device, together with accompanying sounds, if any.
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