It's Electric: Choreography and Copyright

Daniel Terdiman, News.com: 'Electric Slide' on slippery DMCA slope: "The inventor of the 'Electric Slide,' an iconic dance created in 1976, is fighting back against what he believes are copyright violations and, more importantly, examples of bad dancing."

I don't know if this is an example of "bad dancing," but YouTube user nehiker filmed "Electric Slide on Slide Mountain" in the Catskills:

Ric Silver: The Electric Slide Dance. (Does the use of an animated Spider-man dancer on the web page infringe on Marvel's copyrights or trademarks, if the use is unlicensed?)

A couple of pieces of additional reading on copyright in choreography:
Julie Van Camp, Copyright of Choreographic Works, 1994-95 Entertainment, Publishing and the Arts Handbook.

Horgan v. Macmillan, Inc., 789 F.2d 157 (2d Cir. 1986) ("Whether still photographs of a ballet can infringe the copyright on the choreography for the ballet.")

William Patry, The Patry Copyright Blog, Choreography and Alternatives to Copyright Law (Aug. 2005)

And in a tangentially related case, Judge Kaplan in the Southern District decided a case concerning copyright in stage directions ("Blocking and Choreography"), Einhorn v. Mergatroyd Productions, 426 F.Supp.2d 189 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 2006).

• Nancy McClernan, The Strange Case of Edward Einhorn v. Mergatroyd Productions


• Edward Einhorn, A Case for the Stage Director's Copyright


• New York Times: Exit, Pursued by a Lawyer