WHAT CAN ACTUALLY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT?
“Copyright protects ‘original works of authorship’ that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device” (copyright.gov). This means that any material including pictures stored on a hard disk, CD, film etc. is protected immediately. A special choreography, for example, is not protected until being filmed, for example. Other things that cannot be protected are “themes, ideas, most titles, names, catch-phrases and other short-word combinations of no real substance” (CIPO).
