movements may be described, explained, or illustrated. 17 U.S.C. § 102(b). A work may be precluded from registration as a functional system or process if the particular movements and the order in which they are performed purportedly improve one's health or physical or mental condition. Bikram's Yoga College of India, L.P. v. Evolation Yoga, LLC, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177671, at*9-13 (CD. Cal. Dec. 14, 2012] (quoting the Office's policy statement concerning the registration of compilations from Registration of Claims to Copyright, 77 Fed. Reg. at 37,607). Examples of functional physical movements that cannot be registered with the Office include exercise routines, aerobic dances, yoga positions, and the like.
The Office cannot register claims to copyright in athletic activities or competitive events, because they do not constitute copyrightable subject matter under Section 102(a)(4) of the Copyright Act. See Registration of Claims to Copyright, 77 Fed. Reg. at 37607.
Examples:
• Golf swings.
• Track and field events.
• Wrestling or weight lifting.
• Fencing or martial arts.
• Cheerleading routines.
These types of activities are typically performed for the enjoyment of an audience. However, competitive activities are comprised of athletic maneuvers rather than artistic movements, gestures, or facial expressions, and the focus of the action often involves the movement of a ball or other inanimate object, rather than the movement of the performer's body. Competitive activities lack the capacity for uniform performance because each contest usually involves a different set of maneuvers, they lack compositional arrangement because athletic movements are rarely organized into a coherent compositional whole, and any dramatic content involves the "drama" of the competition rather than a story that is told or a theme that is evoked by the players' movements.
For similar reasons, the Office cannot register feats of physical skill or dexterity that do not involve the physical movement of a performer's body in an integrated, coherent, and expressive compositional whole, such as magic acts, circus acts, juggling, fight sequences, or the like.
Cf. Registration of Claims to Copyright, 77 Fed. Reg. at 37607; Copyright Office Study No. 28, at 95 n.13 (noting that magic, juggling, and acrobatics were not copyrightable under the 1909 Act).
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