802.5 Copyrightable Authorship in Musical Works 802.5 (A) Independent Creation
A musical work must originate from the author of that work to be protected by copyright. A musical work that is merely copied from another source is not copyrightable. For instance, a musical work consisting entirely of common property material would not constitute original authorship. Some examples of common property musical material include:
• Diatonic or chromatic scales.
• Arpeggios.
• Chord symbols based on standard chord progressions.
See 37 C.F.R. § 202.1 (D); see also Chapter 300, Section 313.4 (D).