313.4 (D) Works Consisting Entirely of Information That Is Common Property
The U.S. Copyright Office cannot register works consisting entirely of information that is common property because such works contain no original authorship. 37 C.F.R. § 202.1 (D). Examples of common property include, without limitation, standard calendars, schedules of sporting events, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources. Id. For the same reasons, the Office cannot register a claim in common sayings, diatonic and chromatic musical scales, or common chord progressions that merely consist of standard harmonies or common musical phrases.