ByHow Can You Copyright a Dance? The Best Tips To Protect Your Choreography
If you have come up with amazing dance moves and want to save them from copycats, you should get familiar with how copyright works. Once you get the ropes of it, you will know that copyright laws can protect your work from infringement. If you want to see whether you can make a copyright claim to your dance, learn more about what kind of dances you can copyright.
What Is Copyright?
Copyright is an exclusive right you get over the works you create. When you own a copyright to a piece of work, you are the only one that falsely allowed to copy, display, reproduce, perform, distribute, and make adaptations and new versions of it. If others do any of the mentioned without your permission, they can be accused of copyright infringement. You can copyright different kinds of works such as:
- Novels, poems, or articles
- Databases, blogs, or websites
- Songs, scripts, audio recordings, or lyrics
- Movies, videos, TV broadcasts, or video games
- Photographs, illustration, or jewelry
- Choreographies and pantomimes
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and the U.S. Copyright Office can protect your work from copyright infringement.
Copyright Laws on Dance Moves
If you are a choreographer or a dancer and you think someone stole your dance moves and you want to claim copyright to them, you should first consider whether your dance represents an original piece of work. You can’t copyright a single dance move, but only a choreography.
According to the Copyright Act, to be able to get exclusive rights to a dance, it needs to be an original piece of work that contains dance movements and patterns organized as a whole. It also has to express a certain level of creativity. Copyright can protect any work of choreography regardless of whether it has a storyline.
To obtain copyrights to your choreography, you need to have it in a tangible form. You can make your dance tangible by:
- Making a notation
- Recording a video of it
- Writing a detailed description of it
Once you get the copyright, it lasts as long as you are alive plus 70 years after your death.
What Dances Are Not Copyrightable?
Besides not being able to copyright single dance moves, you also can’t own copyrights to some of these types of dances and movements, even if they are distinctive:
| Types | Examples |
|
Common Movements or Gestures |
|
|
Social Dances |
|
|
Athletic Movements |
|
|
Movements Not Performed by Humans |
|
Why Register Copyright for a Choreography?
The moment you create an original piece of choreography and put it in a tangible form, you automatically get copyrights to it. You can add a copyright notice to mark the work as your own as one way to deter other people from copying it.
If you want to get extra protection and benefits, you can register your dance at the U.S. Copyright Office. By doing so, you will be able to file a lawsuit in case someone misuses your copyright-protected work. In case you want to file a lawsuit against a copycat, you should respect the statute of limitations and take the copyright infringement case to court on time.
Having your choreography registered for copyrights allows you to get statutory damages and attorney fees covered in case you send demand letters to someone for copyright infringement and win the case. Registering your work at the U.S. Copyright Office will cost you some money—from $35 to $125 depending on the number of works you submit and the method of registration—online or via email. If you want to protect your work, learn how to copyright it.
How To Copyright a Dance Online
If you want to register your choreography for copyrights, you can do it on the U.S. Copyright Office website. Here is what you need to do:
- Go to the website
- Select Register
- Click on Performing Arts
- Set up an account and log in
- Click on Copyright Registration
- Select Work of the Performing Arts
- Fill out the form
- Pay for the registration
- Submit your work and finalize the registration process
Register Your Copyright to a Dance via Mail
Another way to submit your work to the U.S. Copyright Office is through the mail. You need to include a fee of $85, the application form, and your work in the letter. Send the letter to
101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20540, United States.
Keep in mind that it might take a while to get a response from them.
File a DMCA Notice With DoNotPay and Protect Your Choreography
It often happens that someone puts a toe out of line and steals your dance moves. Luckily, copyright laws, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), provide protection in these cases. If you see someone took your choreography without your permission, you can easily file a DMCA takedown notice with DoNotPay, even if you don’t have your work registered for copyrights. With our app, you can save money you would use for hiring lawyers and save time on dealing with DMCA agents.
The process of filing the notice is super easy—all you need to do is follow a few steps:
- Log in to DoNotPay in any
- Choose DMCA Takedown
- Provide the name of your original content
- Give us the links to your original work and to the item that violates your copyrights
- Confirm your contact information
- Click on Sign and Submit
- Go to the My Disputes tab to see the results
DoNotPay is praised as the world’s first AI Consumer Champion and has helped many people solve their issues. This was recognized by the American Bar Association who gave us the 2020 Louis M. Brown Award for Access.
Give It a Whirl With Other DoNotPay Options
Do you want to learn more about how to copyright other kinds of work? With DoNotPay, you can learn how to copyright a script, a recipe, a book, or a poem.
In case you upload your dance on YouTube, learn how copyright claims can help you save it from misuse.
If you post your work on other social media, such as Facebook or Instagram, we will help you learn how copyright works on these platforms as well.
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