COPYRIGHT LAW OVERVIEW – 1.3

1.3 TYPES OF CONTENT COVERED BY COPYRIGHT LAW

            Content can be created by anyone. The people who create original Content are typically referred to as “creators,” “authors,” or “writers.”

            Virtually any type of creative expression can be found online. This includes text, images, moving pictures, illustrations, photographs, music, and a combination of any of them. This creative expression is sometimes referred to as “work(s),” or “material.” For purposes of this Compliance Guidebook, it will all be referred to as “Content.” The Content that qualifies for protection under Copyright Law can be roughly broken down into four (4) general areas – text, visual works, audiovisual works, and music (both musical compositions and sound recordings).

Text – Literary Works & Computer Programs

            “Literary works” are works, other than audiovisual works, expressed in words, numbers, or other verbal or numerical symbols or indicia, regardless of the nature of the physical or digital object in which the text is embodied such as books, periodicals, manuscripts, or computer code and include:

Printed & Ebooks Short Stories Magazine Articles
Poems Dramatic Works Computer Code & Programs
Screenplays Website HTML & Text Blogs

Visual Arts & Images

            Visual Arts include any works that can be seen with the human eye and include “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works” that are two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art, photographs, prints and art reproductions, maps, globes, charts, diagrams, models, and technical drawings, including architectural plans.

Photographs Graphics Illustrations
Cartoons Comic Strips Patterns & Molds
Sculptures & Figurines Paintings Prints & Posters
Advertisements Maps & Globes Drawings
Artwork on Records Weavings & Tapestries Stained Glass
Architectural Designs Blueprints Engravings & Etchings

Audiovisual Works & Motion Pictures

            Audiovisual works consist of a series of related images which, when shown in succession, impart an impression of motion, together with accompanying sounds and generally include:

Films Television Programs Webisodes
Motion Pictures Audiovisual Works Commercial videos
Home Videos Video Games Online, Console, or other Digital Games Mobile Applications Music Videos

Music – Compositions & Recordings

            Music includes: (1) compositions that consist of the musical notes and lyrics capable of being read in sheet music or in notation form; and(2) sound recordings that are embodied in “phonorecords” which are physical or digital objects in which sounds are fixed by any method now known or later developed, and from which the sounds can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device such as a CD player, MP4 player, or  vinyl record:

Compositions Musical Notes & Lyrics Recordings
Records MP3 & MP4 formats Sheet Music
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Connie J. Mableson

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