Scripts

Generally, dramatic works such as plays, screenplays, and radio or television scripts are works intended to be performed. Dramatic works usually include spoken text, plot, and directions for action. Because of misconceptions about copyright registration for radio and television presentations, the following points require emphasis:

• The title of a program or series of programs cannot be copyrighted;
• The general idea or concept for a program is not copyrightable. Copyright will protect the literary or dramatic expression of an author’s idea but not the idea itself; and
• Registration for a particular script applies only to the copyrightable material in that script. “Blanket” registration for future scripts or for a series as a whole is not available. (However, an unpublished collection of material may be registered with one application.)