under Section 102(a)(4) of the Copyright Act, and as such, cannot be registered as a choreographic work.
805.8 Registration Issues
This Section discusses frequent registration issues that arise in connection with choreographic works.
805.8(A) Choreographic Works Embodied in Dramatic Works or Audiovisual Works
The choreography in a musical, a music video, or a motion picture may be registered as a choreographic work (or as a contribution to a dramatic work or audiovisual work), provided that the dance contains a sufficient amount of copyrightable authorship and provided that the dance is claimed as a distinct form of authorship in the application.
If an applicant submits an application to register a choreographic work embodied in a dramatic work or an audiovisual work, the registration only extends to the copyrightable choreography disclosed in that work.
NOTE: The applicant should not assert a claim in choreography if the choreographic work was previously registered as a component part of a motion picture or a dramatic work as a whole.
805.8(B) Choreographic Work Combined with a Musical Work
If the claimant owns the copyright in a choreographic work and the musical accompaniment for that work, the music should be separately claimed in the application. If the claimant does not own the copyright in the musical accompaniment, that element of the work should be excluded from the claim using the procedure described in Chapter 600, Section 621.8.
805.8(C) Capacity for Uniform Performance
As discussed in Section 805.3(D)(3), a choreographic work may be embodied with a textual description, photographs, drawings, or any combination of the foregoing, provided that the deposit copy(ies) identify the precise movements of the dancers and is sufficiently detailed to serve as directions for the performance of the dance.
If the deposit copy(ies) is not sufficiently specific or if it is so general and lacking in detail that the dance could not be performed therefrom, the registration specialist may communicate with the applicant or may refuse to register the dance as a choreographic work. In some cases, it may be possible to register a textual description as a literary work if the application asserts a claim in "text" and it may be possible to register a photograph or drawing as a work of the visual arts if the applicant asserts a claim in "artwork." In both cases, the registration would extend to the description, depiction, or illustration of the movements, but the movements themselves would not be registered as a choreographic work. See Registration of Claims to Copyright, 77 Fed. Reg. at 37,607.
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