Performing Arts
IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING REGISTERING A GROUP OF UNPUBLISHED WORKS
You may register up to 10 unpublished works on the same application, but YOU MUST SELECT the new application for a “Group of Unpublished Works.”
Click here if you need help finding the application for a “Group of Unpublished Works,” and click here to watch a video that provides step-by-step instructions for completing this application. Click here for answers to frequently asked questions related to this application.
The “Standard Application” MAY NOT BE USED to register a “collection” of unpublished works. If you submit 2 or more works on the “Standard Application” the Copyright Office may register only 1 of your works and remove the remaining works from the claim. To register those works you will need to resubmit them using an appropriate application form.
Register a Work of the Performing Arts
Group Registration for Unpublished Works (GRUW)
The Copyright Office has created a new group registration option for unpublished works. Read more.
Group Registration for Works on an Album of Music (GRAM)
The Copyright Office has created a new group registration option for musical works that are published on the same album. Read more.
In addition, the Office has created a separate group registration option for sound recordings, photos, artwork, and liner notes that are published on the same album. Read more.
Works of the performing arts are works that are intended to be performed for an audience. This category includes a wide variety of creative works, including music, lyrics, sound recordings, scripts, screenplays, choreography, motion pictures, video games, and similar types of works.
Statutory Definition
The Copyright Act states that performing a work “means to recite, render, play, dance, or act it, either directly or by means of any device or process or, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to show its images in any sequence or to make the sounds accompanying it audible.” (17 U.S.C. § 101)
- Albums
- Audio Books
- Beats
- Choreographic Works
- Comedy Routines / Stand Up Routines
- Dramatic Works
- Interviews
- Jingles
- Live Concerts
- Lyrics
- Method / Musical Instruction Books
- Music
- Music & Lyrics
- Music Editing
- Musical Arrangement
- Musical Theater
- Musicals (Song / Script)
- Pantomime
- Podcasts
- Remixes
- Screenplays
- Scripts
- Songs
- Sound Recordings
- Soundtracks
- Spoken Word Recordings
- Stage Plays
- Synopses
- Teleplays
- Treatments
Resources
Video Tutorials
- Standard Application (Video: 10m 28s)
- Single Application (Video: 9m 58s)
- Submit Your Work to the Copyright Office (Video: 2m 46s)
- Group Registration of Unpublished Works (Video: 11m 50s)
- Supplementary Registration (Video: 6m 28s)
Other Services
Paper Applications
Group Options
- Unpublished Works
- Musical works published on the same album
- Sound recordings published on the same album