What Is Not Protected by Copyright?
Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include among others:
- Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been
notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded)
- Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation,
lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents
- Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a
description, explanation, or illustration
- Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example:
standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents
or other common sources)
Circular 1, Revised July 2006
Source:
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wwp
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