What is a Copyright?

A copyright is a form of ownership and legal protection for "original works of authorship." The copyrighted work must be in tangible form. The Copyright Act gives a copyright owner the exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies, publicly perform, or display the work of artistic expression.

In cases of "works for hire," the employer (not the employee) is considered the owner of the copyright.

Copyrightable works include:

• literary works
• musical works, including any accompanying words
• dramatic works, including any accompanying music
• pantomimes and choreographic works
• pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
• motion pictures and other audiovisual works
• sound recordings
• architectural works

These categories are viewed broadly. For example, computer programs and most "compilations" can be registered as literary works. Maps and architectural plans can be registered as pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.

Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include:

• Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works and improvisationals performances that have not been written or recorded)
• Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; 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)