The U.S. Copyright Office registers several different kinds of work. A general overview of the different kinds of work(s) that can be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office appears below.
Literary Work
This refers to nondramatic literary work, ie - written work not meant for performance of any kind, excluding a periodical or serial issue. Literary Works include a wide variety of works: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, textbooks, reference works, directories, catalogs, advertising copy, compilations of information, computer programs and databases.
Work of the Visual Arts
Visual Arts Works include two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art, photographs, prints and art reproductions, maps, technical drawings, and architectural works. Substantial copyrightable text that accompanies a visual arts work can also be registered on the same application.
Work of the Performing Arts
Performing arts works can include musical work (with or without lyrics), a dramatic work, such as a screenplay, play or other script, a pantomime, or a choreographic work. Works of Performing Arts that also include a sound recording, are considered Sound Recording Works.
Sound Recording Work
A Sound Recording results from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds. The author of a sound recording is the performer(s) whose performance is fixed, or the record producer who processes the sounds and fixes them in the final recording, or both.
Sound recording registration can include both the sound recording and the underlying recorded musical, dramatic, or literary work(s), along with the sound recording of the work(s). Note: To register both the sound recording and the underlying work on a single application, the copyright claimant must own all rights in both works.
With one exception, sound recordings are works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds. Exception: Under the copyright law, the sounds that accompany an audiovisual work, for example, a motion picture, are not defined as a sound recording but rather Motion Picture/Audiovisual.
Motion Picture/Audiovisual Work
A Motion Picture or Audiovisual Work can include a feature film, documentary film, animated film, television show, video, videogame, or other audiovisual work. An audiovisual work is a work that consists of a series of related images that are intended to be shown by the use of a machine or device, together with accompanying sounds, if any.
