Which of the following is a primary work for copyright purposes?

Which of the following is a primary work for copyright purposes?

• A. Sound recording
• B. Literary work
• C. Broadcast
• D. Film

Answer: (B)

The key idea is understanding what category of works copyright protects and which one sits at the foundation for written expression. A literary work covers written text—lyrics, scripts, articles, software code, and similar forms of written expression. This category is central because it represents the actual written form of the ideas and expressions that people create. In music, the lyrics are a literary work, and they are the core written content that copyright protects. The other options describe protectable forms as well, but they are distinct embodiments of the same underlying creation. A sound recording protects the fixed performance of a song, a film protects audiovisual material, and a broadcast protects the dissemination of a program. These are important rights, but they’re built around the underlying written and musical content rather than being the foundational written expression itself. Therefore, the literary work stands as the primary form of copyrightable content in this context.

The key idea is understanding what category of works copyright protects and which one sits at the foundation for written expression. A literary work covers written text—lyrics, scripts, articles, software code, and similar forms of written expression. This category is central because it represents the actual written form of the ideas and expressions that people create. In music, the lyrics are a literary work, and they are the core written content that copyright protects.

The other options describe protectable forms as well, but they are distinct embodiments of the same underlying creation. A sound recording protects the fixed performance of a song, a film protects audiovisual material, and a broadcast protects the dissemination of a program. These are important rights, but they’re built around the underlying written and musical content rather than being the foundational written expression itself. Therefore, the literary work stands as the primary form of copyrightable content in this context.