Which of the following is not typically protected by copyright?

• A. Literary works
• B. Sound recordings
• C. Public domain works
• D. Ideas, procedures, or methods not fixed in a tangible form

Answer: (D)

The main point is that copyright protects original expressions that are fixed in a tangible medium. It does not cover ideas themselves or procedures or methods that aren’t fixed in some physical form. That’s why a literary work or a sound recording, once fixed (written, recorded), is eligible for copyright protection because the creative expression is captured in a tangible medium. Public domain works aren’t protected by copyright because their protection has expired or never existed, so they aren’t subject to ongoing copyright, even though they may still be used freely.

The best choice highlights the fundamental limitation: ideas, procedures, or methods not fixed in a tangible form aren’t eligible for copyright protection because there’s no fixed expression to protect. If a method or idea is fixed—expressed in writing, diagrams, or a recording—it could be protected to the extent that it qualifies as a copyrightable work. If you’re protecting such a concept, you’d look to other protections (like patents or trade secrets) rather than copyright.