What can be protected by copyright?

Copyright law attaches protection automatically to any original work, once that work is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Thus, there are really two basic requirements for copyright protection - the work must be original, and it must be fixed. Originality means that the work contains an expression (as opposed to an idea) which was made with some creativity from the author, while fixation basically means that the work is put in a form which allows others to see or use it.