What Does Copyright Protect?

Copyright law protects works that have been fixed in a tangible medium, such as on paper, compact disk, canvas, VCR tape, DVD, the Web, etc. Examples include

• literary works - books, stories, poems, plays, newspaper and magazine articles, etc.
• music
• artwork - paintings, sculpture, photographs etc.
• movies, videos, and animations
• computer software
• Web pages

What does copyright NOT protect?

Works that cannot be copyrighted include

• ideas or concepts not fixed in a tangible medium
• factual information
• titles, short phrases, slogans and logos - however, these may be protected by trademark law
• works in the public domain - works of the U.S. Government and works for which the copyright has expired