What may be protected by copyright?

In the United States copyrights are granted to protect an author’s original writings. Today, “writings” are not merely books but any form of original expression. This means advertising can be protected by copyrights, including the text and any art work and photographs contained in an advertisement. In the United States, copyright laws protect original architectural designs, software, graphic arts, motion pictures, music, sound recordings, and even web sites.

In the United States, copyrightable works have been categorized as follows:

• 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