Plays, Treaments & Scripts

Dramatic works such as plays, treatments or scripts that are intended to be "performed" can be protected by copyright. Generally, these include works that have been created for television, radio, movies or stage and may be registered with or without music.

Dramatic works usually include spoken text, plot, and directions for action. Because of misconceptions about copyright registration for radio and television presentations, the following points require emphasis:

• The title of a program or series of programs cannot be copyrighted.
• The general idea or concept for a program is not copyrightable. Copyright will protect the literary or dramatic expression of an author's idea but not the idea itself.
• Registration for a particular script applies only to the copyrightable material in that script.

Choreography and pantomimes are also copyrightable dramatic works. Choreography is the composition and arrangement of dance movements and patterns usually intended to be accompanied by music. Pantomime is the art of imitating or acting out situations, characters, or other events.

To be protected by copyright, pantomimes and choreography need not tell a story or be presented before an audience. Each work, however, must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression such as a video or written description from which the work can be performed.

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