Slate.com Explainer, June 26, 2009 by Brian Palmer
http://www.slate.com/id/2221408/
Could he have licensed his dance moves? Only the more complicated sequences. Since 1976, federal law has allowed for the copyrighting of “pantomimes and choreographic works” but not of isolated dance steps. So while Michael Jackson could surely have safeguarded the rights to the “Thriller” video choreography, he likely could not have licensed the moonwalk. (Besides, the moonwalk was probably not an original work.) Jackson does hold a patent on the specialized shoes he used in the leaning sequence of the “Smooth Criminal” video…. The Explainer thanks … Jason Schultz of Berkeley Law School.