Which statement is true about copyright for jokes or short stories?

• A. It cannot be copyrighted under any circumstance
• B. It must be a parody to be copyrighted
• C. It can be copyrighted if it tells a unique story and conforms to constitutional copyright
• D. It is automatically in the public domain

Answer: (C)

Copyright protection applies to original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible form, and jokes or short stories are included in that category. The key idea is that the expression you create—the actual wording, structure, and presentation of the joke or story—counts as a literary work. Once you fix it in writing, audio, video, or another stable medium, it is protected automatically, without any special registration requirement.

Parody is not a prerequisite for protection; a joke or story doesn't have to be a parody to be copyrighted. Nor is it true that such works must be automatically in the public domain; they remain protected until the normal copyright terms expire or until the work is released into the public domain. The reference to “constitutional copyright” just means protection flows from the constitutional grant to promote progress by securing authors’ rights, provided the work is original and fixed.

So, a joke or short story can be copyrighted if it presents an original expression and is fixed in a tangible form, aligning with what copyright law protects.