Copyright Talk

The doctrine of fair use developed slowly over time, and was not an official part of the written copyright law until 1978, the effective date of the 1976 Copyright Law revisions.

It is difficult to apply with a black and white rule in part because there are so many different types of material covered by copyright laws. Generally, any expression of an original idea, fixed in a tangible medium, is protected by copyright. Some of the types of works protected are fairly simple to understand, but others are more complex, because of the requirement of both originality and expression in a fixed medium. Simply having an idea is not enough, but neither is possessing a film of an unoriginal work (and we’re not talking about bad movies, here. Those are unoriginal in a whole different way than the copyright law is talking about).

Types of things covered by copyright:
Works of Fiction
Poetry
News articles
Non-fiction books
Academic articles
Photographs
Music
Recordings
Movies: The completed motion picture may be covered by copyright, but some elements that went into the making of it may be separately covered by copyright if they otherwise meet the test of originality and expression in a fixed medium, such as the screenplay, the costumes, and the set designs.
Visual art: “The visual arts category consists of pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art, photographs, prints and art reproductions, maps, globes, charts, technical drawings, diagrams, architectural works and models.” FL-115, US Copyright Office
Computer programs: defined generally as a set of instructions intended to make the computer act a certain way.
Recipes: A list of ingredients as in recipes, formulas, compounds or prescriptions are not subject to copyright protection. “However, where a recipe or formula is accompanied by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions, or when there is a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook, there may be a basis for copyright protection.” FL-122, US Copyright Office
Choreography: The choreography must be presented in a fixed medium of expression. There is a great article on this fascinating topic here.
Games : Games themselves are generally not covered by copyright, including the name, the play method, and any layout. Since copyright protection does not extend to any idea, system, method, device, or trademark material involved in the development, merchandising, or playing of a game, nothing will prevent another person from creating and selling a similar game. However, some material prepared for the game, such as written descriptions of the rules, or the art and material on the gameboard or box, may be covered by copyright.

Architectural Works: An original design of a building made or constructed since 1990 and embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings. “The term building means structures that are habitable by humans and intended to be both permanent and stationary, such as houses and office buildings, and other permanent and stationary structures designed for human occupancy, including but not limited to churches, museums, gazebos, and garden pavilions.” Bridges, highway designs, mobile homes, boats and similar are not protected by copyright.