Under 17 USCS section 102 the following is protected:
- Literature
- Music and lyrics
- Drama
- Pantomime and dance
Pictures, graphics, sculpture
- Films
- Sound Recordings
- Architecture
- Software
"In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work."
(U.S. Copyright Office)