2122.6 Motion Pictures and Other Audiovisual Works
Motion pictures and other audiovisual works were registered for the original term under classes J, L, and M as published and unpublished works and, since 1978, in class PA. Motion pictures include “photoplays” (feature films, television shows and videos with a dramatic plot, animated cartoons, etc.) registered in class L, and other films (such as documentaries, educational or instructional filmstrips and videos, newsreels and other television shows that are not dramatic in nature) registered in class M. Motion pictures and audiovisual works may or may not contain an integrated soundtrack. When sounds were first published as part of a motion picture or audiovisual work, they are “sounds accompanying an audiovisual work (or motion picture),” not “sound recordings.”
Audiovisual works, other than motion pictures, generally were registered for the original term in class J as photographs but they are included here with motion pictures based on the current law that defines motion pictures as a type of audiovisual work. For renewal registration purposes, audiovisual works include works such as filmstrips and slide films (e.g., travelogs and educational slide shows).