Aside from the monumental challenge of actually creating movement, choreographers face an additional, ongoing challenge with each piece they create. They must protect their work.

All artists–writers, painters, filmmakers–work to protect their creations. But the nature of choreography makes it a little more difficult to capture and copyright.

As a dancer, you may branch into the field of choreography someday. In this post, we talk about the basics of copyrighting choreography.

Choreography is Copyrightable

The Federal Copyright Law of 1976 (which went into effect on January 1 of 1978) set out rules for copyrighting choreography. ¹

Under today’s US copyright laws, choreography is covered

under the category, “Dramatic Works: Scripts, Pantomimes, and Choreography.”

“Choreography” is defined as “the composition and arrangement of dance movements and patterns usually intended to be accompanied by music.” ² Pantomime, by contrast, “is the art of imitating or acting out situations, characters, or other events.” ³

For both choreography and pantomimes, the work that is presented for copyright does not have to tell a story. Also, it does not need to be presented before an audience. ⁴

Fixed in What?

In order for you to copyright your choreography, you must present a piece that is “fixed in a tangible medium of expression from which the work can be performed.” ⁵

And what, exactly, does that mean?

Simply (though, not so simply stated) it means that you must record the work in some physical medium. ⁶ When copyrighting a story, for instance, you could present your work on paper—the paper is your physical medium.

Putting Choreography to Paper(…or Phonorecord)

When copyrighting choreography, the work can be “fixed” in a film or video recording. Or, it can be described, very carefully and exactly.

If you’re describing a piece of choreography that you’d like to copyright, you can use any sort of “phonorecord” (a compact digital disc, for example) to record the description. Or, you can use a written description.

Another option when submitting choreography for copyright is to submit it in a dance notation system, such as Labanotation, Sutton Movement Shorthand, or Benesh Notation. When submitting choreography in dance notation, you can submit it on paper, on phonorecord, or on a computer disk. ⁷

When you fix your work “in a tangible medium” you are, according to copyright law, differentiating your choreographed work from spontaneous work. Spontaneous work, such as an improvised solo, is not protected by copyright.

For a pantomime, as for choreography, you may fix your work in a film or video recording. Or, you can describe it on a phonorecord or in written text.

The Complications of Copyrighting Choreography

When writing the laws about copyrighting choreography, one problem that legal experts ran into was the fact that choreography and dance are both so difficult to define.

In a long and somewhat difficult (but interesting!) article called “Copyright of Choreographic Works,”⁸ Julie Van Camp talked about some of the problems of writing copyright laws for choreography.

First: what is dance? You might say that dance is the art of human movement. But, Camp reminds her readers

of Duet. In Duet, “Paul Taylor and his partner do nothing but sit on stage, in silence, for three minutes.”⁹ Lawmakers found out that “dance” isn’t easy to label.

Second: what is “choreography?” Camp summarizes this discussion very clearly, and you can read her discussion here. ¹⁰ She thought that choreography is a work that “centrally involves the design of human movement.” ¹¹

Before the U.S. Copyright Office came up with the law for protecting choreography, lawmakers also had to talk about issues of originality, expression, and notation. Again, you can read more about these topics at this link.

Protecting Your Work

When you’re ready to copyright your own work, you’ll need to submit the proper materials in the right format. And, you’ll have to pay a copyright fee.

When you submit your work correctly, it should be registered the very same day. According to the US Copyright Office, you don’t have to wait for them to process your submission before it’s protected. ¹²

Once you register your work, it is copyrighted for 70 years after your death. Your heirs (especially if you become a Graham or Taylor) might end up with some headaches over the ownership of your work. But the good news is that you will only have to complete the process once for each piece! ¹³