Category: Interpretation

The Copyright Act recognizes choreography as a distinct category of copyrightable authorship. The statute does not define the term “choreographic works.” However, the legislative history states that this term has a “fairly settled meaning.” The word “choreography” is derived from the Greek words “choreia,” meaning “dance,” and “graphikos,” meaning “to write.” A dance is the “static and kinetic succession of bodily movement in certain rhythmic and spatial relationships.”

When registering a claim in a dramatic work using the online application, the applicant should select “Work of the Performing Arts” as the “Type of Work.” When registering a claim using a paper application, the applicant should complete Form PA.

A “joint work” is “a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole.” Scripts for stage and screen are often written by multiple authors. If the authors of the script intend to merge their contributions into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole, the script is a joint work, and the applicant should name all the joint authors in the application.