If Michael Jackson had $1 for every time someone did the moonwalk, he wouldn have had financial troubles. Could he have licensed his dance moves?
Only the more complicated sequences. Since 1976, federal law has allowed for the copyrighting of “pantomimes and choreographic works” but not of isolated dance steps. So while Michael Jackson could surely have safeguarded the rights to the “Thriller” video choreography, he likely could not have licensed the moonwalk. (Besides, the moonwalk was probably not an original work.) Jackson does hold a patent on the specialized shoes he used in the leaning sequence of the “Smooth Criminal” video.
