Mr. Justice Miller

delivered the opinion of the court.

This is a writ of error to the Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York.

Plaintiff is a lithographer and defendant a photographer, with large business in those lines in the city of New York. .

The suit was commenced by an action at law in which Sarony was plaintiff and the lithographic company was defendant, the plaintiff charging the defendant with violating his copyright in regard to a photograph, the title of which is “ Oscar Wilde No. 18:” A jury being waived, the court made a finding of facts on which a judgment in.favor of the plaintiff was rendered for the sum of $600 for the plates and 85,000 copies sold and exposed to sale, and $10 for copies found in his possession, as penalties under section 4965 of the Revised Statutes.

Among the findings of fact made by the court the following presents the principal question raised by the assignment of errors in the case :

“ 3. That the plaintiff about the month of January, 1882, under an agreement with Oscar Wilde, became and was the author, inventor, designer, and proprietor of the photograph in suit, the title of which is ‘Oscar Wilde No. 18,’ being the number used to designate this particular photograph and of the negative thereof; that the same is' a useful, new, harmonious, characteristic, and graceful picture, and that said plaintiff made the same at his place of business in said city of New York, and within the United States, entirely from his own *55original mental conception, to which he gave visible form by posing the said Oscar Wilde in front of the camera, selecting and arranging the costume, draperies, and other various accessories in said photograph, arranging the subject so as to present graceful outlines, arranging and disposing the light and shade, suggesting and evoking the desired expression, and from such disposition, arrangement, or representation, made entirely by the plaintiff, he produced the picture in suit, Exhibit A, April 14th, 1882, and that the terms ‘author,’ ‘inventor,’ and ‘designer,’ as used in the art of photography and in the complaint, mean the person Avho so produced the photograph.”

Other findings leave no doubt that plaintiff had taken all the steps required by the act of Congress to obtain copyright of this photograph, and section 4952 names photographs among other things for which the author, inventor, or designer may obtain copyright, Avhich is to secure him the sole privilege of reprinting, publishing, .copying and vending the same. That defendant is liable under that section and section 4965 there can be no question, if those sections are valid as they relate to photographs.

Accordingly, the two assignments of error in this court by plaintiff in error, are:

1. That the court below, decided that Congress had and has the constitutional right to protect photographs and negatives thereof by copyright.

The second assignment related to the sufficiency of the. Avords “ Copyright, 1882, by N. Sarony,” in the photographs, as a notice of the copyright of Napoleon Sarony under the act of Congress on that subject.

With regard to this latter question, it is enough to say, that the object of the statute is to give notice of the copyright to the public, by placing upon each copy, in some visible shape, the name of the author, the existence of the claim of exclusive right, and the date at which this right Avas obtained.

This notice is sufficiently given by the words “ Copyright, • 1882, by N. Sarony,” found on each copy of the photograph. It clearly shoAvs that a copyright is asserted, the date of Avhich is 1882, and if the name Sarony alone Avas used, it would be a *56sufficient designation of the author until it is shown that there is some other Sarony.

When, in addition to this, the initial letter of the Christian name Napoleon is also given, the notice is complete.

The constitutional question is not free from difficulty:

The'eighth section of the first article of the Constitution is the great repository of the powers of Congress, and by the eighth clause of that section Congress is authorized:

“ To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, for limited times to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”

The argument here is, that a photograph is not a writing nor the production of an author. Under the acts of Congress designed to give effect to this section, the persons who are to be benefited are divided into two classes, authors and inventors. The monopoly which is granted to the former is called a copyright, that given to the latter, letters patent, or, in the familiar language of the present day, patent right.

We have, then, copyright and .patent right, and it is the first of these under which plaintiff asserts a claim for relief.

It is insisted in argument, that a photograph being a reproduction on paper of the exact features of some natural object or of some person, is not a writing of which the producer is the author.

Section 1952 of the Revised Statutes places photographs in the same class as things which may be copyrighted with “ books, maps, charts, dramatic or musical compositions, engravings, cuts, prints, paintings, drawings, statues, statuary, and models or designs intended to be perfected as works of the fine arts.” “ According to the practice of legislation in England and America,” says Judge Bouvier, 2 Law Dictionary, 303, “ the copyright is confined to the exclusive right secured to the author or proprietor .of a Avriting or draAving Avhich may be multiplied by the arts of printing in any of its branches.”

The first Congress of the United States, sitting immediately after the formation of the Constitution, enacted that the “ author or authors of any map, chart, book or books, being a *57'citizen or resident of the United States, shall have the sole right and liberty of printing, reprinting, publishing and vending the same for the period of fourteen years from the recording of the title' thereof in the clerk’s office, as afterwards directed.” 1 Stat. 124, 1.

This statute not only makes maps-and charts subjects of copyright, but mentions them before books in the order of designation. . The second section of an act to amend this act, approved April 29, 1802, 2 Stat. 171, enacts that from the first day of January thereafter, he who shall invent and design, engrave, etch or work, or from his own works shall cause to be designed and engraved, etched or worked, any historical or other print or prints shall have the same exclusive right for the term of fourteen years from recording the title thereof as prescribed by law.

By the first section of the act of February 3d, 1831,. 4 Stat. 436, entitled an act to amend the several acts respecting copyright, musical compositions and cuts, in connection with prints and engravings, are added, and the period of protection is ex: tended to twenty-eight years. The caption or title, of this act uses the word copyright for the first time in the legislation of Congress.

The construction placed upon the Constitution by the first act of 1790, and the act of 1802, by the men who were contemporary with its formation, many of whom were members of the convention which framed it, is of itself entitled to very great weight,, and when it is remembered that the rights thus established have not been disputed during a period of nearly a century, it is almost conclusive.

Unless, therefore, photographs can be distinguished in the classification on this point from the maps, charts, designs, engravings,' etchings, cuts, and other prints, it is difficult to see why Congress cannot make them the subject of copyright as well as the others.

These statutes certainly answer the objection that books only, or writing in the limited sense of a book and its author, are within the constitutional provision. Both these words are susceptible of a more enlarged definition than this. An author in *58that sense is “ he to whom anything owes its origin; originator; maker; one who completes' a work of science or literature.” Worcester. So, also, no one would now claim that the word writing in this clause of the Constitution, though the only word used as to subjects in regard to which authors are to be secured, is limited to the. actual script of the author, and excludes books and all other-printed matter. By writings in that clause is meant the literary productions of those authors, and Congress very properly has declared these to include all forms of writing, printing, engraving, etching, &c., by which the ideas in the mind of the author are given visible expression. The only reason why photographs were not included in the extended list in the act of 1802 is probably that they did not exist, as photography .as an art was then unknown, and the scientific principle on which it rests, and the chemicals and machinery by which it is operated, have all been discovered long since that statute was enacted.

Nor is it to be supposed that the framers of the Constitution did not understand the nature of copyright and the objects to which it was commonly applied, for copyright, as the’exclusive right of a man to the production of his own genius or intellect, existed in England at that time, and the contest in the English courts, finally decided by a very close vote in the House of Lords, whether the statute of 8 Anne, chap. 19, which authorized copyright for a limited time, was a restraint to that extent on the common law or not, was then recent. It had. attracted much attention, as the judgment of the King’s Bench, delivered by Lord Mansfield, holding it was not such a restraint, in Miller v. Taylor, 4 Burrows, 2303, decided in 1769, was overruled on appeal in the House of Lords in 1774. Ibid. 2408. In this and other cases the whole question of the exclusive right to literary and intellectual productions had been freely discussed.

Ve entertain no doubt that the Constitution is broad enough to cover an act authorizing copyright of photographs, so far as they are representatives of original intellectual conceptions of the author.

But it is said that an engraving, a painting, a print, does em*59body the intellectual conception of its author, in which there is novelty, invention, originality, and therefore comes within the purpose of the Constitution in securing its exclusive use or sale to its author, while the photograph is the mere mechanical reproduction of the physical features or outlines of some object animate or inanimate, and involves no originality of thought or any novelty in the intellectual operation connected with its visible reproduction in shape of a picture. That while the effect of light on the prepared plate may have been a discovery in the production of these pictures, and patents could properly be obtained for the combination of the chemicals, for their application to the paper or other surface, for all the machinery by which the light reflected from the object was thrown on the prepared plate, and for all the improvements in this machinery, and in the materials, the remainder of the process is merely mechanical, with no place for novelty, invention or originality. It is simply the manual operation, by the use of these instruments and preparations, of transferring to the plate the visible representation of some existing object, the accuracy of this representation being its highest merit.

■This may be true in regard to the ordinary production of a photograph, and, further, that in such case a copyright is no protection. On the question as thus stated we decide nothing.

In regard, however, to the kindred subject of patents for invention, they cannot by law be issued to the inventor until the novelty, the utility, and the actual discovery or invention by the claimant have been established by proof before the Commissioner of Patents; and when he has secured such a patent, and undertakes to obtain redress for a violation of his right in a court of law, the question of invention, of novelty, of originality, is always open to examination. Our copyright system has no such provision for previous examination by a proper tribunal as to the originality of the book, map, or other matter offered for copyright. A deposit of two copies of the article or work with the Librarian of Congress, with the name of the author and its title page, is all that is necessary to secure a copyright. It is, therefore, much more important that when the supposed author sues for a violation of his copyright, the *60existence of those facts of originality, of intellectual production, of thought, and conception on the part of the author should be proved, than in the case of a patent right.

In the case before us we think this has been done.

The third finding of facts says, in regard to the photograph in question, that it is a “ useful, new, harmonious, characteristic, and graceful picture, and that plaintiff made the same . . . entirely from his own original mental conception, to which he gave visible form by posing the said Oscar Wilde in front of the camera, selecting and arranging the costume, draperies, and other various accessories in said photograph, arranging the subject so as to present graceful outlines, arranging and disposing the light and shade, suggesting and evoking the desired expression, and from such disposition, arrangement, or representation, made entirely by plaintiff, he produced the picture in suit.”

These findings, we think, show this photograph to be an original work of art, the product of plaintiff’s intellectual invention, of which plaintiff is the author, and of a class of inventions for which the Constitution intended that Congress should secure to him the exclusive right to use, publish and sell, as it has done by section 4952 of the Revised Statutes.

The question here presented is one of first impression under our Constitution, but an instructive case of the same class, is that of Nottage v. Jackson, 11 Q. B. D. 627, decided in that court on appeal, August, 1883.

The first section of the act of 25 and 26 Victoria, chap. 68, authorizes the author of a photograph, upon making registry of it under the copyright act of 18S2, to have a monopoly of its reproduction and multiplication during the life of the author.

The plaintiffs in that case described themselves as the authors of the photograph which was pirated, in the registration of it. It appeared that they had arranged with the captain of the Australian cricketers to take a photograph of the whole team in a group; and they sent one of the artists in their employ from London to some country town to do it.

The question in the case was whether the plaintiffs, who owned the establishment in London, where the' photographs *61were made from, the negative and were sold, and who had the negative taken by one of. their men, were the authors, or the man who, for their benefit, took the negative. It was held that the latter was the author, and the action failed, because plaintiffs had described themselves as authors.

Brett, M. R., said, in regard to who ivas the author: “ The nearest I can come to, is that it is the person who effectively is as near as he can be, the cause, of the picture which is produced, that is, the person who has superintended the arrangement, who has actually formed the picture by putting the persons in position, and arranging the place where the people are to be— the man who-.is the effective cause of that.”

Lord Justice Cotton said: “In my opinion, ‘author’ in volves originating, making, producing, as the inventive or master mind, the thing which is to be protected, whether it be a drawing, or a painting, or a photograph; ” and Lord Justice Bowen says that photography is to be treated for the purposes of the act as an art, and the author is the man who really represents, creates, or gives effect to the idea, fancy, or imagination.

The appeal of plaintiffs from the original judgment against ' them was accordingly dismissed.

These views of the nature of authorship and of originality,' intellectual creation, and right to protection confirm what we have already said.

The judgment of the Circuit Court is accordingly 'affirmed. r

Justice THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court.

Congress has provided copyright protection for original works of art, but not for industrial designs. The line between art and industrial design, however, is often difficult to draw. This is particularly true when an industrial design incorporates artistic elements. Congress has afforded limited protection for these artistic elements by providing that "pictorial, graphic, or sculptural features" of the "design of a useful article" are eligible for copyright protection as artistic works if those features "can be identified separately from, and are capable of existing independently of, the utilitarian aspects of the article." 17 U.S.C. § 101.

We granted certiorari to resolve widespread disagreement over the proper test for implementing § 101's separate-identification and independent-existence requirements. 578 U.S. ----, 136 S.Ct. 1823, 194 L.Ed.2d 829 (2016). We hold that a feature incorporated into the design of a useful article is eligible for copyright protection only if the feature (1) can be perceived as a two- or three-dimensional work of art separate from the useful article and (2) would qualify as a protectable pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work-either on its own or fixed in some other tangible medium of expression-if it were imagined separately from the useful article into which it is incorporated. Because that test is satisfied in this case, we affirm.

I

Respondents Varsity Brands, Inc., Varsity Spirit Corporation, and Varsity Spirit Fashions & Supplies, Inc., design, make, and sell cheerleading uniforms. Respondents have obtained or acquired more than 200 U.S. copyright registrations for two-dimensional designs appearing on the surface of their uniforms and other garments. These designs are primarily "combinations, positionings, and arrangements of elements" that include "chevrons ..., lines, curves, stripes, angles, diagonals, inverted [chevrons], coloring, and shapes." App. 237. At issue in this case are Designs 299A, 299B, 074, 078, and 0815. See Appendix, infra .

Petitioner Star Athletica, L.L.C., also markets and sells cheerleading uniforms. Respondents sued petitioner for infringing their copyrights in the five designs. The District Court entered summary judgment for petitioner on respondents' copyright claims on the ground that the designs did *1008not qualify as protectable pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works. It reasoned that the designs served the useful, or "utilitarian," function of identifying the garments as "cheerleading uniforms" and therefore could not be "physically or conceptually" separated under § 101"from the utilitarian function" of the uniform. 2014 WL 819422, *8-*9 (W.D.Tenn., Mar. 1, 2014).

The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed. 799 F.3d 468, 471 (2015). In its view, the "graphic designs" were "separately identifiable" because the designs "and a blank cheerleading uniform can appear 'side by side'-one as a graphic design, and one as a cheerleading uniform." Id., at 491 (quoting Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices § 924.2(B) (3d ed. 2014) (Compendium)). And it determined that the designs were " 'capable of existing independently' " because they could be incorporated onto the surface of different types of garments, or hung on the wall and framed as art. 799 F.3d, at 491, 492.

Judge McKeague dissented. He would have held that, because "identifying the wearer as a cheerleader" is a utilitarian function of a cheerleading uniform and the surface designs were "integral to" achieving that function, the designs were inseparable from the uniforms. Id., at 495-496.

II

The first element of a copyright-infringement claim is "ownership of a valid copyright." Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co., 499 U.S. 340, 361, 111 S.Ct. 1282, 113 L.Ed.2d 358 (1991). A valid copyright extends only to copyrightable subject matter. See 4 M. Nimmer & D. Nimmer, Copyright § 13.01[A] (2010) (Nimmer). The Copyright Act of 1976 defines copyrightable subject matter as "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression." 17 U.S.C. § 102(a).

"Works of authorship" include "pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works," § 102(a)(5), which the statute defines to include "two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art, photographs, prints and art reproductions, maps, globes, charts, diagrams, models, and technical drawings, including architectural plans," § 101. And a work of authorship is " 'fixed' in a tangible medium of expression when it[ is] embodi[ed] in a" "material objec[t] ... from which the work can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated." Ibid. (definitions of "fixed" and "copies").

The Copyright Act also establishes a special rule for copyrighting a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work incorporated into a "useful article," which is defined as "an article having an intrinsic utilitarian function that is not merely to portray the appearance of the article or to convey information." Ibid. The statute does not protect useful articles as such. Rather, "the design of a useful article" is "considered a pictorial, graphical, or sculptural work only if, and only to the extent that, such design incorporates pictorial, graphic, or sculptural features that can be identified separately from, and are capable of existing independently of, the utilitarian aspects of the article." Ibid .

Courts, the Copyright Office, and commentators have described the analysis undertaken to determine whether a feature can be separately identified from, and exist independently of, a useful article as "separability." In this case, our task is to determine whether the arrangements of lines, chevrons, and colorful shapes appearing on the surface of respondents' cheerleading uniforms are eligible for copyright protection as separable features *1009of the design of those cheerleading uniforms.

A

As an initial matter, we must address whether separability analysis is necessary in this case.

1

Respondents argue that "[s]eparability is only implicated when a [pictorial, graphic, or sculptural] work is the 'design of a useful article.' " Brief for Respondents 25. They contend that the surface decorations in this case are "two-dimensional graphic designs that appear on useful articles," but are not themselves designs of useful articles. Id., at 52. Consequently, the surface decorations are protected two-dimensional works of graphic art without regard to any separability analysis under § 101. Ibid. ; see 2 W. Patry, Copyright § 3:151, p. 3-485 (2016) (Patry) ("Courts looking at two-dimensional design claims should not apply the separability analysis regardless of the three-dimensional form that design is embodied in"). Under this theory, two-dimensional artistic features on the surface of useful articles are "inherently separable." Brief for Respondents 26.

This argument is inconsistent with the text of § 101. The statute requires separability analysis for any "pictorial, graphic, or sculptural features" incorporated into the "design of a useful article." "Design" refers here to "the combination" of "details" or "features" that "go to make up" the useful article. 3 Oxford English Dictionary 244 (def. 7, first listing) (1933) (OED). Furthermore, the words "pictorial" and "graphic" include, in this context, two-dimensional features such as pictures, paintings, or drawings. See 4 id., at 359 (defining "[g]raphic" to mean "[o]f or pertaining to drawing or painting"); 7 id., at 830 (defining "[p]ictorial" to mean "of or pertaining to painting or drawing"). And the statute expressly defines "[p]ictorial, graphical, and sculptural works" to include "two-dimensional ... works of ... art." § 101. The statute thus provides that the "design of a useful article" can include two-dimensional "pictorial" and "graphic" features, and separability analysis applies to those features just as it does to three-dimensional "sculptural" features.

2

The United States makes a related but distinct argument against applying separability analysis in this case, which respondents do not and have not advanced. As part of their copyright registrations for the designs in this case, respondents deposited with the Copyright Office drawings and photographs depicting the designs incorporated onto cheerleading uniforms. App. 213-219; Appendix, infra . The Government argues that, assuming the other statutory requirements were met, respondents obtained a copyright in the deposited drawings and photographs and have simply reproduced those copyrighted works on the surface of a useful article, as they would have the exclusive right to do under the Copyright Act. See Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 14-15, 17-22. Accordingly, the Government urges, separability analysis is unnecessary on the record in this case. We generally do not entertain arguments that were not raised below and that are not advanced in this Court by any party, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 573 U.S. ----, ----, 134 S.Ct. 2751, 189 L.Ed.2d 675 (2014), because "[i]t is not the Court's usual practice to adjudicate either legal or predicate factual questions in the first instance," CRST Van Expedited, Inc. v. EEOC, 578 U.S. ----, ----, 136 S.Ct. 1642, 1653, 194 L.Ed.2d 707 (2016). We decline to depart from our usual practice here.

*1010B

We must now decide when a feature incorporated into a useful article "can be identified separately from" and is "capable of existing independently of" "the utilitarian aspects" of the article. This is not a free-ranging search for the best copyright policy, but rather "depends solely on statutory interpretation." Mazer v. Stein, 347 U.S. 201, 214, 74 S.Ct. 460, 98 L.Ed. 630 (1954). "The controlling principle in this case is the basic and unexceptional rule that courts must give effect to the clear meaning of statutes as written." Estate of Cowart v. Nicklos Drilling Co., 505 U.S. 469, 476, 112 S.Ct. 2589, 120 L.Ed.2d 379 (1992). We thus begin and end our inquiry with the text, giving each word its "ordinary, contemporary, common meaning." Walters v. Metropolitan Ed. Enterprises, Inc., 519 U.S. 202, 207, 117 S.Ct. 660, 136 L.Ed.2d 644 (1997) (internal quotation marks omitted). We do not, however, limit this inquiry to the text of § 101 in isolation. "[I]nterpretation of a phrase of uncertain reach is not confined to a single sentence when the text of the whole statute gives instruction as to its meaning." Maracich v. Spears, 570 U.S. ----, ----, 133 S.Ct. 2191, 2203, 186 L.Ed.2d 275 (2013). We thus "look to the provisions of the whole law" to determine § 101's meaning. United States v. Heirs of Boisdore, 8 How. 113, 122, 12 L.Ed. 1009 (1849).

1

The statute provides that a "pictorial, graphic, or sculptural featur [e]" incorporated into the "design of a useful article" is eligible for copyright protection if it (1) "can be identified separately from," and (2) is "capable of existing independently of, the utilitarian aspects of the article." § 101. The first requirement-separate identification-is not onerous. The decisionmaker need only be able to look at the useful article and spot some two- or three-dimensional element that appears to have pictorial, graphic, or sculptural qualities. See 2 Patry § 3:146, at 3-474 to 3-475.

The independent-existence requirement is ordinarily more difficult to satisfy. The decisionmaker must determine that the separately identified feature has the capacity to exist apart from the utilitarian aspects of the article. See 2 OED 88 (def. 5) (defining "[c]apable" of as "[h]aving the needful capacity, power, or fitness for"). In other words, the feature must be able to exist as its own pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work as defined in § 101 once it is imagined apart from the useful article. If the feature is not capable of existing as a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work once separated from the useful article, then it was not a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural feature of that article, but rather one of its utilitarian aspects.

Of course, to qualify as a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work on its own, the feature cannot itself be a useful article or "[a]n article that is normally a part of a useful article" (which is itself considered a useful article). § 101. Nor could someone claim a copyright in a useful article merely by creating a replica of that article in some other medium-for example, a cardboard model of a car. Although the replica could itself be copyrightable, it would not give rise to any rights in the useful article that inspired it.

2

The statute as a whole confirms our interpretation. The Copyright Act provides "the owner of [a] copyright" with the "exclusive righ[t] ... to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies." § 106(1). The statute clarifies that this right "includes the right to reproduce the [copyrighted] work in or on any kind of article, whether useful or otherwise." § 113(a).

*1011Section 101 is, in essence, the mirror image of § 113(a). Whereas § 113(a) protects a work of authorship first fixed in some tangible medium other than a useful article and subsequently applied to a useful article, § 101 protects art first fixed in the medium of a useful article. The two provisions make clear that copyright protection extends to pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works regardless of whether they were created as freestanding art or as features of useful articles. The ultimate separability question, then, is whether the feature for which copyright protection is claimed would have been eligible for copyright protection as a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work had it originally been fixed in some tangible medium other than a useful article before being applied to a useful article.

3

This interpretation is also consistent with the history of the Copyright Act. In Mazer, a case decided under the 1909 Copyright Act, the respondents copyrighted a statuette depicting a dancer. The statuette was intended for use as a lamp base, "with electric wiring, sockets and lamp shades attached." 347 U.S., at 202, 74 S.Ct. 460. Copies of the statuette were sold both as lamp bases and separately as statuettes. Id., at 203, 74 S.Ct. 460. The petitioners copied the statuette and sold lamps with the statuette as the base. They defended against the respondents' infringement suit by arguing that the respondents did not have a copyright in a statuette intended for use as a lamp base. Id., at 204-205, 74 S.Ct. 460.

Two of Mazer 's holdings are relevant here. First, the Court held that the respondents owned a copyright in the statuette even though it was intended for use as a lamp base. See id., at 214, 74 S.Ct. 460. In doing so, the Court approved the Copyright Office's regulation extending copyright protection to works of art that might also serve a useful purpose. See ibid. (approving 37 C.F.R. § 202.8(a) (1949) (protecting "works of artistic craftsmanship, in so far as their form but not their mechanical or utilitarian aspects are concerned")).

Second, the Court held that it was irrelevant to the copyright inquiry whether the statuette was initially created as a freestanding sculpture or as a lamp base. 347 U.S., at 218-219, 74 S.Ct. 460 ("Nor do we think the subsequent registration of a work of art published as an element in a manufactured article, is a misuse of copyright. This is not different from the registration of a statuette and its later embodiment in an industrial article"). Mazer thus interpreted the 1909 Act consistently with the rule discussed above: If a design would have been copyrightable as a standalone pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work, it is copyrightable if created first as part of a useful article.

Shortly thereafter, the Copyright Office enacted a regulation implementing the holdings of Mazer . See 1 Nimmer § 2A.08[B][1][b] (2016). As amended, the regulation introduced the modern separability test to copyright law:

"If the sole intrinsic function of an article is its utility, the fact that the article is unique and attractively shaped will not qualify it as a work of art. However, if the shape of a utilitarian article incorporates features, such as artistic sculpture, carving, or pictorial representation, which can be identified separately and are capable of existing independently as a work of art, such features will be eligible for registration." 37 C.F.R. § 202.10(c) (1960) (punctuation altered).

Congress essentially lifted the language governing protection for the design of a useful article directly from the post-Mazer regulations and placed it into § 101 of the *10121976 Act. Consistent with Mazer, the approach we outline today interprets §§ 101 and 113 in a way that would afford copyright protection to the statuette in Mazer regardless of whether it was first created as a standalone sculptural work or as the base of the lamp. See 347 U.S., at 218-219, 74 S.Ct. 460.

C

In sum, a feature of the design of a useful article is eligible for copyright if, when identified and imagined apart from the useful article, it would qualify as a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work either on its own or when fixed in some other tangible medium.

Applying this test to the surface decorations on the cheerleading uniforms is straightforward. First, one can identify the decorations as features having pictorial, graphic, or sculptural qualities. Second, if the arrangement of colors, shapes, stripes, and chevrons on the surface of the cheerleading uniforms were separated from the uniform and applied in another medium-for example, on a painter's canvas-they would qualify as "two-dimensional ... works of ... art," § 101. And imaginatively removing the surface decorations from the uniforms and applying them in another medium would not replicate the uniform itself. Indeed, respondents have applied the designs in this case to other media of expression-different types of clothing-without replicating the uniform. See App. 273-279. The decorations are therefore separable from the uniforms and eligible for copyright protection.1

The dissent argues that the designs are not separable because imaginatively removing them from the uniforms and placing them in some other medium of expression-a canvas, for example-would create "pictures of cheerleader uniforms." Post, at 1035 - 1036 (opinion of BREYER, J.). Petitioner similarly argues that the decorations cannot be copyrighted because, even when extracted from the useful article, they retain the outline of a cheerleading uniform. Brief for Petitioner 48-49.

This is not a bar to copyright. Just as two-dimensional fine art corresponds to the shape of the canvas on which it is painted, two-dimensional applied art correlates to the contours of the article on which it is applied. A fresco painted on a wall, ceiling panel, or dome would not lose copyright protection, for example, simply because it was designed to track the dimensions of the surface on which it was painted. Or consider, for example, a design etched or painted on the surface of a guitar. If that entire design is imaginatively removed from the guitar's surface and placed on an album cover, it would still resemble the shape of a guitar. But the image on the cover does not "replicate" the guitar as a useful article. Rather, the design is a two-dimensional work of art that corresponds to the shape of the useful article to which it was applied. The statute protects that work of art whether it is first drawn on the album cover and then applied to the guitar's surface, or vice versa. Failing to protect that art would create an anomaly: It would extend protection to two-dimensional designs that cover a part of a useful article but would not protect the same design if it covered the entire article. The statute does not support that distinction, nor can it be reconciled *1013with the dissent's recognition that "artwork printed on a t-shirt" could be protected. Post, at 1019 (internal quotation marks omitted).

To be clear, the only feature of the cheerleading uniform eligible for a copyright in this case is the two-dimensional work of art fixed in the tangible medium of the uniform fabric. Even if respondents ultimately succeed in establishing a valid copyright in the surface decorations at issue here, respondents have no right to prohibit any person from manufacturing a cheerleading uniform of identical shape, cut, and dimensions to the ones on which the decorations in this case appear. They may prohibit only the reproduction of the surface designs in any tangible medium of expression-a uniform or otherwise.2

D

Petitioner and the Government raise several objections to the approach we announce today. None is meritorious.

1

Petitioner first argues that our reading of the statute is missing an important step. It contends that a feature may exist independently only if it can stand alone as a copyrightable work and if the useful article from which it was extracted would remain equally useful. In other words, copyright extends only to "solely artistic" features of useful articles. Brief for Petitioner 33. According to petitioner, if a feature of a useful article "advance[s] the utility of the article," id., at 38, then it is categorically beyond the scope of copyright, id., at 33. The designs here are not protected, it argues, because they are necessary to two of the uniforms' "inherent, essential, or natural functions"-identifying the wearer as a cheerleader and enhancing the wearer's physical appearance. Id., at 38, 48; Reply Brief 2, 16. Because the uniforms would not be equally useful without the designs, petitioner contends that the designs are inseparable from the "utilitarian aspects" of the uniform. Brief for Petitioner 50.

The Government raises a similar argument, although it reaches a different result. It suggests that the appropriate test is whether the useful article with the artistic feature removed would "remai[n] similarly useful." Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 29 (emphasis added). In the view of the United States, however, a plain white cheerleading uniform is "similarly useful" to uniforms with respondents' designs. Id., at 27-28.

The debate over the relative utility of a plain white cheerleading uniform is unnecessary. The focus of the separability inquiry is on the extracted feature and not on any aspects of the useful article that remain after the imaginary extraction. The statute does not require the decisionmaker to imagine a fully functioning useful article without the artistic feature. Instead, it requires that the separated feature qualify as a nonuseful pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work on its own.

Of course, because the removed feature may not be a useful article-as it would *1014then not qualify as a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work-there necessarily would be some aspects of the original useful article "left behind" if the feature were conceptually removed. But the statute does not require the imagined remainder to be a fully functioning useful article at all, much less an equally useful one. Indeed, such a requirement would deprive the Mazer statuette of protection had it been created first as a lamp base rather than as a statuette. Without the base, the "lamp" would be just a shade, bulb, and wires. The statute does not require that we imagine a nonartistic replacement for the removed feature to determine whether that feature is capable of an independent existence.

Petitioner's argument follows from its flawed view that the statute protects only "solely artistic" features that have no effect whatsoever on a useful article's utilitarian function. This view is inconsistent with the statutory text. The statute expressly protects two- and three-dimensional "applied art." § 101. "Applied art" is art "employed in the decoration, design, or execution of useful objects," Webster's Third New International Dictionary 105 (1976) (emphasis added), or "those arts or crafts that have a primarily utilitarian function, or ... the designs and decorations used in these arts," Random House Dictionary 73 (1966) (emphasis added); see also 1 OED 576 (2d ed. 1989) (defining "applied" as "[p]ut to practical use"). An artistic feature that would be eligible for copyright protection on its own cannot lose that protection simply because it was first created as a feature of the design of a useful article, even if it makes that article more useful.

Indeed, this has been the rule since Mazer . In holding that the statuette was protected, the Court emphasized that the 1909 Act abandoned any "distinctions between purely aesthetic articles and useful works of art." 347 U.S., at 211, 74 S.Ct. 460. Congress did not enact such a distinction in the 1976 Act. Were we to accept petitioner's argument that the only protectable features are those that play absolutely no role in an article's function, we would effectively abrogate the rule of Mazer and read "applied art" out of the statute.

Because we reject the view that a useful article must remain after the artistic feature has been imaginatively separated from the article, we necessarily abandon the distinction between "physical" and "conceptual" separability, which some courts and commentators have adopted based on the Copyright Act's legislative history. See H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476, p. 55 (1976). According to this view, a feature is physically separable from the underlying useful article if it can "be physically separated from the article by ordinary means while leaving the utilitarian aspects of the article completely intact." Compendium § 924.2(A); see also Chosun Int'l, Inc. v. Chrisha Creations, Ltd., 413 F.3d 324, 329 (C.A.2 2005). Conceptual separability applies if the feature physically could not be removed from the useful article by ordinary means. See Compendium § 924.2(B); but see 1 P. Goldstein, Copyright § 2.5.3, p. 2:77 (3d ed. 2016) (explaining that the lower courts have been unable to agree on a single conceptual separability test); 2 Patry §§ 3:140-3:144.40 (surveying the various approaches in the lower courts).

The statutory text indicates that separability is a conceptual undertaking. Because separability does not require the underlying useful article to remain, the physical-conceptual distinction is unnecessary.

*10152

Petitioner next argues that we should incorporate two "objective" components, Reply Brief 9, into our test to provide guidance to the lower courts: (1) "whether the design elements can be identified as reflecting the designer's artistic judgment exercised independently of functional influence," Brief for Petitioner 34 (emphasis deleted and internal quotation marks omitted), and (2) whether "there is [a] substantial likelihood that the pictorial, graphic, or sculptural feature would still be marketable to some significant segment of the community without its utilitarian function," id., at 35 (emphasis deleted and internal quotation marks omitted).

We reject this argument because neither consideration is grounded in the text of the statute. The first would require the decisionmaker to consider evidence of the creator's design methods, purposes, and reasons. Id., at 48. The statute's text makes clear, however, that our inquiry is limited to how the article and feature are perceived, not how or why they were designed. See Brandir Int'l, Inc. v. Cascade Pacific Lumber Co., 834 F.2d 1142, 1152 (C.A.2 1987) (Winter, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (The statute "expressly states that the legal test is how the final article is perceived, not how it was developed through various stages").

The same is true of marketability. Nothing in the statute suggests that copyrightability depends on market surveys. Moreover, asking whether some segment of the market would be interested in a given work threatens to prize popular art over other forms, or to substitute judicial aesthetic preferences for the policy choices embodied in the Copyright Act. See Bleistein v. Donaldson Lithographing Co., 188 U.S. 239, 251, 23 S.Ct. 298, 47 L.Ed. 460 (1903) ("It would be a dangerous undertaking for persons trained only to the law to constitute themselves final judges of the worth of pictorial illustrations, outside of the narrowest and most obvious limits").

3

Finally, petitioner argues that allowing the surface decorations to qualify as a "work of authorship" is inconsistent with Congress' intent to entirely exclude industrial design from copyright. Petitioner notes that Congress refused to pass a provision that would have provided limited copyright protection for industrial designs, including clothing, when it enacted the 1976 Act, see id., at 9-11 (citing S. 22, Tit. II, 94th Cong., 2d Sess., 122 Cong. Rec. 3856-3859 (1976)), and that it has enacted laws protecting designs for specific useful articles-semiconductor chips and boat hulls, see 17 U.S.C. §§ 901 - 914, 1301 - 1332 -while declining to enact other industrial design statutes, Brief for Petitioner 29, 43. From this history of failed legislation petitioner reasons that Congress intends to channel intellectual property claims for industrial design into design patents. It therefore urges us to approach this question with a presumption against copyrightability. Id., at 27.

We do not share petitioner's concern. As an initial matter, "[c]ongressional inaction lacks persuasive significance" in most circumstances. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation v. LTV Corp., 496 U.S. 633, 650, 110 S.Ct. 2668, 110 L.Ed.2d 579 (1990) (internal quotation marks omitted). Moreover, we have long held that design patent and copyright are not mutually exclusive. See Mazer, 347 U.S., at 217, 74 S.Ct. 460. Congress has provided for limited copyright protection for certain features of industrial design, and approaching the statute with presumptive hostility toward protection for industrial design would undermine Congress' choice.

*1016In any event, as explained above, our test does not render the shape, cut, and physical dimensions of the cheerleading uniforms eligible for copyright protection.

III

We hold that an artistic feature of the design of a useful article is eligible for copyright protection if the feature (1) can be perceived as a two- or three-dimensional work of art separate from the useful article and (2) would qualify as a protectable pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work either on its own or in some other medium if imagined separately from the useful article. Because the designs on the surface of respondents' cheerleading uniforms in this case satisfy these requirements, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed.

It is so ordered.

APPENDIX TO OPINION OF THE COURT

*1018Justice GINSBURG, concurring in the judgment.

I concur in the Court's judgment but not in its opinion. Unlike the majority, I would not take up in this case the separability test appropriate under 17 U.S.C. § 101.1 Consideration of that test is unwarranted because the designs at issue are not designs of useful articles. Instead, the designs are themselves copyrightable pictorial or graphic works reproduced on useful articles.2

A pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work (PGS work) is copyrightable. § 102(a)(5). PGS works include "two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art." § 101. Key to this case, a copyright in a standalone PGS work "includes the right to reproduce the work in or on any kind of article, whether useful or otherwise." § 113(a). Because the owner of a copyright in a pre-existing PGS work may exclude a would-be infringer from reproducing that work on a useful article, there is no need to engage in any separability inquiry to resolve the instant petition.

The designs here in controversy are standalone pictorial and graphic works that respondents Varsity Brands, Inc., et al. (Varsity) reproduce on cheerleading uniforms. Varsity's designs first appeared as pictorial and graphic works that Varsity's design team sketched on paper. App. 281. Varsity then sought copyright protection for those two-dimensional designs, not for cheerleading costumes; its registration statements claimed "2-Dimensional artwork" and "fabric design (artwork)." Appendix, infra, at 1020 - 1023, 1025 - 1026, 1028 - 1030. Varsity next reproduced its two-dimensional graphic designs on cheerleading uniforms, also on other garments, including T-shirts and jackets. See, e.g., App. 274, 276.3

*1019In short, Varsity's designs are not themselves useful articles meet for separability determination under § 101 ; they are standalone PGS works that may gain copyright protection as such, including the exclusive right to reproduce the designs on useful articles.4

Appendix to opinion of GINSBURG, J.

APPENDIX

EXHIBIT 15

Certificate of Registration Additional certificate (17 U.S.C. 706)

[Seal of the United States Copyright Office 1870]

This Certificate issued under the seal of the Copyright Office in accordance with title 17,United States Code, attests that registration has been made for the work identified below. The information on this certificate has been made a part of the Copyright Office records.

Form VA

For a Work of the Visual Arts

UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE

RE VA 1-417-427

EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGISTRATION

5 21 07

Month Day Year

Maria A. Pallante

Acting Register of Copyrights, United States of America

DO NOT WRITE ABOVE THIS LINE. IF YOU NEED MORE SPACE, USE A SEPARATE CONTINUATION SHEET

1 Title of This Work NATURE OF THIS Design Number 078 WORK See instructions 2-dimensional artwork Preious or Alternative Titles __________________________________________________

Publication as a Contribution If this work was published as a contribution to a periodical, serial, or collection, give information about the collective work in which the contribution appeared.Title of Collective Work

________________________________________________ If published in a periodical or serial give: Volume Number Issue Date On Pages ______________________________________________

2 NOTE Under the law the "author" of a "work made for hire " is generally the employer, not the employee (see instructions). For any part of this work that was "made for hire" check "Yes" in the space provided, give the employer (or other person for whom the work was prepared) as "Author" of that part, and leave the space for dates of birth and death blank.

a NAME OF AUTHOR Varsity Brands, Inc. DATES OF BIRTH AND DEATH Year Born Year Died _____________ _____________ Was this contribution to the work a "work made for hire"? [X] Yes [ ] No Author's Nationality or Domicile Name of Country Citizen of _______________ or Domiciled in United States Was this Author's Contribution to the Work Anonymous? [ ] Yes [X] No Pseudonymous? [ ] Yes [X] No

If the answer to either of these questions is "Yes," see detailed instructions.

Nature of Authorship Check appropriate box(es) See Instructions [ ] 3 Dimensional sculpture [X] 2 Dimensional artwork

EXHIBIT 16

Certificate of Registration Additional certificate (17 U.S.C. 706)

[Seal of the United States Copyright Office 1870]

This Certificate issued under the seal of the Copyright Office in accordance with title 17,United States Code, attests that registration has been made for the work identified below. The information on this certificate has been made a part of the Copyright Office records.

Registration Number: VA 1-675-905

Effective date of registration: May 12, 2008

Maria A. Pallante Acting Register of Copyrights, United States of America

Title _________________________________________ Title of Work: 0815 Nature of Work: 2-dimensional artwork Completion/Publication _________________________ Year of Completion: 2007 Date of 1st Publication: January 2, 2008 Nation of 1st Publication: United States Author _________________________________________ Author: Varsity Brands, Inc. Author Created: 2-dimensional artwork Work made for hire: Yes Domiciled in: United States Anonymous: No Pseudonymous: No Copyright claimant _____________________________ Copyright Claimant: Varsity Brands, Inc.

EXHIBIT 17

Certificate of Registration Additional certificate (17 U.S.C. 706) [Seal of the United States Copyright Office 1870]

This Certificate issued under the "sealof the Copyright Office in accordance with title 17,United States Code, attests that registration has been made for the work identified below. The information on this certificate has been made a part of the Copyright Office records.

Form VA For a Work of the Visual Arts UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE RE VA 1-319-228 EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGISTRATION April 29 2005 Month Day Year

Maria A. Pallante Acting Register of Copyrights, United States of America

DO NOT WRITE ABOVE THIS LINE. IF YOU NEED MORE SPACE, USE A SEPARATE CONTINUATION SHEET

____________________________________________________ 1 Title of This Work NATURE OF THIS 299A WORK See instructions FABRIC DESIGN (ARTWORK) Previous or Alternative Titles _____________________________________________________

Publication as a Contribution If this work was published as a contribution to a periodical, serial, or collection, give information about the collective work in which the contribution appeared.Title of Collective Work

______________________________________________________ If published in a periodical or serial give: Volume Number Issue Date On Pages ______________________________________________________

2 NOTE Under the law the "author" of a "work made for hire " is generally the employer not the employee (see instructions) For any part of this work that wasmade for hire check "Yes" in the space provided, give the employer (or other person for whom the work was prepared) as "Author" of that part and leave the space for dates of birth and death blank.

a NAME OF AUTHOR VARSITY SPIRIT FASHIONS & SUPPLIES INC DATES OF BIRTH AND DEATH Year Born Year Died _____________ _____________ Was this contribution to the work a "work made for hire"? [X] Yes [ ] No Author's Nationality or Domicile Name of Country Citizen of _______________ or Domiciled in United States Was this Author's Contribution to the Work Anonymous? [ ] Yes [X] No Pseudonymous? [ ] Yes [X] No

If the answer to either of these questions is "Yes," see detailed instructions.

Nature of Authorship Check appropriate box(es) See Instructions [ ] 3 Dimensional sculpture

[X] 2 Dimensional artwork [ ] Reproduction of work of art [ ] Map [ ] Photograph [ ] Jewelry design [ ] Technical drawing [ ] Text [ ] Architectural work b Name of Author ______________________ Dates of Birth and Death Year Born Year Died ______________ ______________ Was this contribution to the work a "work made for hire"? [ ] Yes [ ] No Author's Nationality or Domicile Name of Country Citizen of _______________ or Domiciled in United States Was this Author's Contribution to the Work Anonymous? [ ] Yes [ ] No Pseudonymous? [ ] Yes [ ] No

If the answer to either of these questions is "Yes," see detailed instructions.

Nature of Authorship Check appropriate box(es) See Instructions [ ] 3 Dimensional sculpture

EXHIBIT 18

Certificate of Registration Additional certificate (17 U.S.C. 706)

[Seal of the United States Copyright Office 1870]

This Certificate issued under the seal of the Copyright Office in accordance with title 17,United States Code, attests that registration has been made for the work identified below. The information on this certificate has been made a part of the Copyright Office records.

Form VA For a Work of the Visual Arts UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE

RE VA 1-319-226 EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGISTRATION Month Day Year April 29 2005

Maria A. Pallante Acting Register of Copyrights, United. States of America

DO NOT WRITE ABOVE THIS LINE. IF YOU NEED MORE SPACE, USE A SEPARATE CONTINUATION SHEET

____________________________________________________ 1 Title of This Work NATURE OF THIS 299B WORK See instructions FABRIC DESIGN (ARTWORK) Previous or Alternative Titles _____________________________

Publication as a Contribution If this work was published as a contribution to a periodical, serial, or collection, give information about the collective work in which the contribution appeared.

Title of Collective Work ________________________________________________________ If published in a periodical or serial give: Volume Number Issue Date On Pages ________________________________________________________

2 NOTE Under the law the "author" of a "work made for hire " is generally the employer not the employee (see Instructions) For any part of this work that was made for hire, check Yes in the space provided, give the employer (or other person for whom the work was prepared) as "Author" of that part and leave the space for dates of birth and death blank.

a NAME OF AUTHOR VARSITY SPIRIT FASHIONS & SUPPLIES INC DATES OF BIRTH AND DEATH Year Born Year Died _____________ _____________ Was this contribution to the work a "work made for hire"? [X] Yes [ ] No Author's Nationality or Domicile Name of Country Citizen of _______________ or Domiciled in USA Was this Author's Contribution to the Work Anonymous? [ ] Yes [X] No Pseudonymous? [ ] Yes [X] No

If the answer to either of these questions is "Yes," see detailed instructions.

Nature of Authorship Check appropriate box(es) See Instructions

[ ] 3 Dimensional sculpture [X] 2 Dimensional artwork [ ] Reproduction of work of art [ ] Map [ ] Photograph [ ] Jewelry design [ ] Technical drawing [ ] Text [ ] Architectural work ______________________________________________ b Name of Author ______________________ Dates of Birth and Death Year Born Year Died _____________ _____________ Was this contribution to the work a "work made for hire"? [X] Yes [ ] No Author's Nationality or Domicile Name of Country Citizen of _______________ or Domiciled in _____________ Was this Author's Contribution to the Work Anonymous? [ ] Yes [X] No Pseudonymous? [ ] Yes [X] No

If the answer to either of these questions is "Yes," see detailed instructions.

Nature of Authorship Check appropriate box(es) See Instructions

AMENDED EXHIBIT 19

Certificate of Registration [Seal of the United States Copyright Office 1870]

This Certificate issued under the seal of the Copyright Office in accordance with title 17,United States Code, attests that registration has been made for the work identified below. The information on this certificate has been made a part of the Copyright Office records.

[Marybeth Peters] Register of Copyrights, United States of America

Form VA

For a Work of the Visual Arts

UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE RE VA 1-411-535 [BARCODE]

EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGISTRATION

May 09 2007 Month Day Year

RATE CONTINUATION SHEET: _______________________________________________ 1 Title of This Work NATURE OF THIS Design Number 074 WORK See instructions 2-dimensional artwork Previous or Alternative Titles ________________________________________________

Publication as a Contribution If this work was published as a contribution to a periodical, serial, or collection, give information about the collective work in which the contribution appeared. Title of Collective Work _________________________________________________

If published in a periodical or serial give: Volume Number Issue Date On Pages ______________________________________________

2 NOTE Under the law the "author" of a "work made for hire" is generally the employer, not the employee (see instructions). For any part of this work that was "made for hire" check "Yes" in the space provided, give the employer (or other person for whom the "work" was prepared) as "Author" of that part and leave the space for dates of birth and death blank

a NAME OF AUTHOR Varsity Brands, Inc. DATES OF BIRTH AND DEATH Year Born Year Died _____________ _____________ Was this contribution to the work a "work made for hire"? [X] Yes [ ] No Author's Nationality or Domicile Name of Country Citizen of _______________ or Domiciled at United States Was this Author's Contribution to the Work Anonymous? [ ] Yes [X] No Pseudonymous? [ ] Yes [X] No

If the answer to either of these questions is "Yes," see detailed instructions.

Nature of Authorship Check appropriate box(es) See Instructions [ ] 3 Dimensional sculpture [X] 2 Dimensional artwork [ ] Reproduction of work of art

*1030Justice BREYER, with whom Justice KENNEDY joins, dissenting.

I agree with much in the Court's opinion. But I do not agree that the designs that Varsity Brands, Inc., submitted to the Copyright Office are eligible for copyright protection. Even applying the majority's test, the designs cannot "be perceived as ... two- or three-dimensional work[s] of art separate from the useful article." Ante, at 1007.

Look at the designs that Varsity submitted to the Copyright Office. See Appendix to opinion of the Court, ante . You will see *1031only pictures of cheerleader uniforms. And cheerleader uniforms are useful articles. A picture of the relevant design features, whether separately "perceived" on paper or in the imagination, is a picture of, and thereby "replicate[s]," the underlying useful article of which they are a part. Ante, at 1007, 1031. Hence the design features that Varsity seeks to protect are not "capable of existing independently o[f] the utilitarian aspects of the article." 17 U.S.C. § 101.

I

The relevant statutory provision says that the "design of a useful article" is copyrightable "only if, and only to the extent that, such design incorporates pictorial, graphic, or sculptural features that can be identified separately from, and are capable of existing independently of, the utilitarian aspects of the article." Ibid . But what, we must ask, do the words "identified separately" mean? Just when is a design separate from the "utilitarian aspect of the [useful] article?" The most direct, helpful aspect of the Court's opinion answers this question by stating:

"Nor could someone claim a copyright in a useful article merely by creating a replica of that article in some other medium-for example, a cardboard model of a car. Although the replica could itself be copyrightable, it would not give rise to any rights in the useful article that inspired it." Ante, at 1010.

Exactly so. These words help explain the Court's statement that a copyrightable work of art must be "perceived as a two- or three-dimensional work of art separate from the useful article." Ante, at 1007, 1015 - 1016. They help clarify the concept of separateness. Cf. 1 M. Nimmer & D. Nimmer, Nimmer on Copyright § 2A.08[A][1] (2016) (Nimmer) (describing courts' difficulty in applying that concept). They are consistent with Congress' own expressed intent. 17 U.S.C. § 101 ; H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476, pp. 55, 105 (1976) (H.R. Rep.). And they reflect long held views of the Copyright Office. See Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices § 924.2(B) (3d ed. 2014), online at http://www.copyright.gov/comp3/docs/compendium.pdf (as last visited Mar. 7, 2017) (Compendium).

Consider, for example, the explanation that the House Report for the Copyright Act of 1976 provides. It says:

"Unless the shape of an automobile, airplane, ladies' dress, food processor, television set, or any other industrial product contains some element that, physically or conceptually, can be identified as separable from the utilitarian aspects of that article, the design would not be copyrighted...." H.R. Rep., at 55 (emphasis added).

These words suggest two exercises, one physical, one mental. Can the design features (the picture, the graphic, the sculpture) be physically removed from the article (and considered separately), all the while leaving the fully functioning utilitarian object in place? If not, can one nonetheless conceive of the design features separately without replicating a picture of the utilitarian object? If the answer to either of these questions is "yes," then the design is eligible for copyright protection. Otherwise, it is not. The abstract nature of these questions makes them sound difficult to apply. But with the Court's words in mind, the difficulty tends to disappear.

An example will help. Imagine a lamp with a circular marble base, a vertical 10-inch tall brass rod (containing wires) inserted off center on the base, a light bulb fixture emerging from the top of the brass rod, and a lampshade sitting on top. In front of the brass rod a porcelain Siamese cat sits on the base facing outward. Obviously, *1032the Siamese cat is physically separate from the lamp, as it could be easily removed while leaving both cat and lamp intact. And, assuming it otherwise qualifies, the designed cat is eligible for copyright protection.

Now suppose there is no long brass rod; instead the cat sits in the middle of the base and the wires run up through the cat to the bulbs. The cat is not physically separate from the lamp, as the reality of the lamp's construction is such that an effort to physically separate the cat and lamp will destroy both cat and lamp. The two are integrated into a single functional object, like the similar configuration of the ballet dancer statuettes that formed the lamp bases at issue in Mazer v. Stein, 347 U.S. 201, 74 S.Ct. 460, 98 L.Ed. 630 (1954). But we can easily imagine the cat on its own, as did Congress when conceptualizing the ballet dancer. See H.R. Rep., at 55 (the statuette in Mazer was "incorporated into a product without losing its ability to exist independently as a work of art"). In doing so, we do not create a mental picture of a lamp (or, in the Court's words, a "replica" of the lamp), which is a useful article. We simply perceive the cat separately, as a small cat figurine that could be a copyrightable design work standing alone that does not replicate the lamp. Hence the cat is conceptually separate from the utilitarian article that is the lamp. The pair of lamps pictured at Figures 1 and 2 in the Appendix to this opinion illustrate this principle.

Case law, particularly case law that Congress and the Copyright Office have considered, reflects the same approach. Congress cited examples of copyrightable design works, including "a carving on the back of a chair" and "a floral relief design on silver flatware." H.R. Rep., at 55. Copyright Office guidance on copyrightable designs in useful articles include "an engraving on a vase," "[a]rtwork printed on a t-shirt," "[a] colorful pattern decorating the surface of a shopping bag," "[a] drawing on the surface of wallpaper," and "[a] floral relief decorating the handle of a spoon." Compendium § 924.2(B). Courts have found copyrightable matter in a plaster ballet dancer statuette encasing the lamp's electric cords and forming its base, see Mazer, supra, as well as carvings engraved onto furniture, see Universal Furniture Int'l, Inc. v. Collezione Europa USA, Inc., 618 F.3d 417, 431-435 (C.A.4 2010) (per curiam ), and designs on laminated floor tiles, see Home Legend, LLC v. Mannington Mills, Inc., 784 F.3d 1404, 1412-1413 (C.A.11 2015). See generally Brief for Intellectual Property Professors as Amici Curiae .

By way of contrast, Van Gogh's painting of a pair of old shoes, though beautifully executed and copyrightable as a painting, would not qualify for a shoe design copyright. See Appendix, fig. 3, infra ; 17 U.S.C. §§ 113(a) - (b). Courts have similarly denied copyright protection to objects that begin as three-dimensional designs, such as measuring spoons shaped like heart-tipped arrows, Bonazoli v. R.S.V.P. Int'l, Inc., 353 F.Supp.2d 218, 226-227 (D.R.I.2005) ; candleholders shaped like sailboats, Design Ideas, Ltd. v. Yankee Candle Co., 889 F.Supp.2d 1119, 1128 (C.D.Ill.2012) ; and wire spokes on a wheel cover, Norris Industries, Inc. v. International Tel. & Tel. Corp., 696 F.2d 918, 922-924 (C.A.11 1983). None of these designs could qualify for copyright protection that would prevent others from selling spoons, candleholders, or wheel covers with the same design. Why not? Because in each case the design is not separable from the utilitarian aspects of the object to which it relates. The designs cannot be physically separated because they themselves make up the shape of the spoon, candleholders, or wheel covers of which they are a part.

*1033And spoons, candleholders, and wheel covers are useful objects, as are the old shoes depicted in Van Gogh's painting. More importantly, one cannot easily imagine or otherwise conceptualize the design of the spoons or the candleholders or the shoes without that picture, or image, or replica being a picture of spoons, or candleholders, or wheel covers, or shoes . The designs necessarily bring along the underlying utilitarian object. Hence each design is not conceptually separable from the physical useful object.

The upshot is that one could copyright the floral design on a soupspoon but one could not copyright the shape of the spoon itself, no matter how beautiful, artistic, or esthetically pleasing that shape might be: A picture of the shape of the spoon is also a picture of a spoon; the picture of a floral design is not. See Compendium § 924.2(B).

To repeat: A separable design feature must be "capable of existing independently" of the useful article as a separate artistic work that is not itself the useful article. If the claimed feature could be extracted without replicating the useful article of which it is a part, and the result would be a copyrightable artistic work standing alone, then there is a separable design. But if extracting the claimed features would necessarily bring along the underlying useful article, the design is not separable from the useful article. In many or most cases, to decide whether a design or artistic feature of a useful article is conceptually separate from the article itself, it is enough to imagine the feature on its own and ask, "Have I created a picture of a (useful part of a) useful article?" If so, the design is not separable from the useful article. If not, it is.

In referring to imagined pictures and the like, I am not speaking technically. I am simply trying to explain an intuitive idea of what separation is about, as well as how I understand the majority's opinion. So understood, the opinion puts design copyrights in their rightful place. The law has long recognized that drawings or photographs of real world objects are copyrightable as drawings or photographs, but the copyright does not give protection against others making the underlying useful objects. See, e.g., Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony, 111 U.S. 53, 4 S.Ct. 279, 28 L.Ed. 349 (1884). That is why a copyright on Van Gogh's painting would prevent others from reproducing that painting, but it would not prevent others from reproducing and selling the comfortable old shoes that the painting depicts. Indeed, the purpose of § 113(b) was to ensure that " 'copyright in a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work, portraying a useful article as such, does not extend to the manufacture of the useful article itself.' " H.R. Rep., at 105.

II

To ask this kind of simple question-does the design picture the useful article?-will not provide an answer in every case, for there will be cases where it is difficult to say whether a picture of the design is, or is not, also a picture of the useful article. But the question will avoid courts focusing primarily upon what I believe is an unhelpful feature of the inquiry, namely, whether the design can be imagined as a "two- or three-dimensional work of art." Ante, at 1007, 1015 - 1016. That is because virtually any industrial design can be thought of separately as a "work of art": Just imagine a frame surrounding the design, or its being placed in a gallery. Consider Marcel Duchamp's "readymades" series, the functional mass-produced objects he designated as art. See Appendix, fig. 4, infra . What is there in the world that, viewed through an esthetic lens, cannot *1034be seen as a good, bad, or indifferent work of art? What design features could not be imaginatively reproduced on a painter's canvas? Indeed, great industrial design may well include design that is inseparable from the useful article-where, as Frank Lloyd Wright put it, "form and function are one." F. Wright, An Autobiography 146 (1943) (reprint 2005). Where they are one, the designer may be able to obtain 15 years of protection through a design patent. 35 U.S.C. §§ 171, 173 ; see also McKenna & Strandburg, Progress and Competition in Design, 17 Stan. Tech. L. Rev. 1, 48-51 (2013). But, if they are one, Congress did not intend a century or more of copyright protection.

III

The conceptual approach that I have described reflects Congress' answer to a problem that is primarily practical and economic. Years ago Lord Macaulay drew attention to the problem when he described copyright in books as a "tax on readers for the purpose of giving a bounty to writers." 56 Parl. Deb. (3d Ser.) (1841) 341, 350. He called attention to the main benefit of copyright protection, which is to provide an incentive to produce copyrightable works and thereby "promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts." U.S. Const. Art. I, § 8, cl. 8. But Macaulay also made clear that copyright protection imposes costs. Those costs include the higher prices that can accompany the grant of a copyright monopoly. They also can include (for those wishing to display, sell, or perform a design, film, work of art, or piece of music, for example) the costs of discovering whether there are previous copyrights, of contacting copyright holders, and of securing permission to copy. Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 U.S. 186, 248-252, 123 S.Ct. 769, 154 L.Ed.2d 683 (2003) (BREYER, J., dissenting). Sometimes, as Thomas Jefferson wrote to James Madison, costs can outweigh "the benefit even of limited monopolies." Letter from Thomas Jefferson to James Madison (July 31, 1788), in 13 Papers of Thomas Jefferson 443 (J. Boyd ed. 1956) (Jefferson Letter). And that is particularly true in light of the fact that Congress has extended the "limited Times" of protection, U.S. Const. Art. I, § 8, cl. 8, from the "14 years" of Jefferson's day to potentially more than a century today. Jefferson Letter 443; see also Eldred, supra, at 246-252, 123 S.Ct. 769 (opinion of BREYER, J.).

The Constitution grants Congress primary responsibility for assessing comparative costs and benefits and drawing copyright's statutory lines. Courts must respect those lines and not grant copyright protection where Congress has decided not to do so. And it is clear that Congress has not extended broad copyright protection to the fashion design industry. See, e.g., 1 Nimmer § 2A.08[H][3][c] (describing how Congress rejected proposals for fashion design protection within the 1976 Act and has rejected every proposed bill to this effect since then); Esquire, Inc. v. Ringer, 591 F.2d 796, 800, n. 12 (C.A.D.C.1978) (observing that at the time of the 1976 Copyright Act, Congress had rejected every one of the approximately 70 design protection bills that had been introduced since 1914); e.g., H.R. 5055, 109th Cong., 2d Sess.: "To Amend title 17, United States Code, to provide protection for fashion design" (introduced Mar. 30, 2006; unenacted). Congress has left "statutory ... protection ... largely unavailable for dress designs." 1 Nimmer § 2A.08[H][3] [a]; Raustiala & Sprigman, The Piracy Paradox: Innovation and Intellectual Property in Fashion Design, 92 Va. L.Rev. 1687, 1698-1705 (2006).

*1035Congress' decision not to grant full copyright protection to the fashion industry has not left the industry without protection. Patent design protection is available. 35 U.S.C. §§ 171, 173. A maker of clothing can obtain trademark protection under the Lanham Act for signature features of the clothing. 15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq. And a designer who creates an original textile design can receive copyright protection for that pattern as placed, for example, on a bolt of cloth, or anything made with that cloth. E.g., Compendium § 924.3(A)(1). "[T]his [type of] claim ... is generally made by the fabric producer rather than the garment or costume designer," and is "ordinarily made when the two-dimensional design is applied to the textile fabric and before the garment is cut from the fabric." 56 Fed.Reg. 56531 (1991).

The fashion industry has thrived against this backdrop, and designers have contributed immeasurably to artistic and personal self-expression through clothing. But a decision by this Court to grant protection to the design of a garment would grant the designer protection that Congress refused to provide. It would risk increased prices and unforeseeable disruption in the clothing industry, which in the United States alone encompasses nearly $370 billion in annual spending and 1.8 million jobs. Brief for Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc., as Amicus Curiae 3-4 (citing U.S. Congress, Joint Economic Committee, The New Economy of Fashion 1 (2016)). That is why I believe it important to emphasize those parts of the Court's opinion that limit the scope of its interpretation. That language, as I have said, makes clear that one may not "claim a copyright in a useful article merely by creating a replica of that article in some other medium," which "would not give rise to any rights in the useful article that inspired it." Ante, at 1010.

IV

If we ask the "separateness" question correctly, the answer here is not difficult to find. The majority's opinion, in its appendix, depicts the cheerleader dress designs that Varsity submitted to the Copyright Office. Can the design features in Varsity's pictures exist separately from the utilitarian aspects of a dress? Can we extract those features as copyrightable design works standing alone, without bringing along, via picture or design, the dresses of which they constitute a part?

Consider designs 074, 078, and 0815. They certainly look like cheerleader uniforms. That is to say, they look like pictures of cheerleader uniforms, just like Van Gogh's old shoes look like shoes. I do not see how one could see them otherwise. Designs 299A and 2999B present slightly closer questions. They omit some of the dresslike context that the other designs possess. But the necklines, the sleeves, and the cut of the skirt suggest that they too are pictures of dresses. Looking at all five of Varsity's pictures, I do not see how one could conceptualize the design features in a way that does not picture, not just artistic designs, but dresses as well.

Were I to accept the majority's invitation to "imaginatively remov[e]" the chevrons and stripes as they are arranged on the neckline, waistline, sleeves, and skirt of each uniform, and apply them on a "painter's canvas," ante, at 1011 - 1012, that painting would be of a cheerleader's dress. The esthetic elements on which Varsity seeks protection exist only as part of the uniform design-there is nothing to separate out but for dress-shaped lines that replicate the cut and style of the uniforms. Hence, each design is not physically separate, nor is it conceptually separate, from the useful article it depicts, namely, a *1036cheerleader's dress. They cannot be copyrighted.

Varsity, of course, could have sought a design patent for its designs. Or, it could have sought a copyright on a textile design, even one with a similar theme of chevrons and lines.

But that is not the nature of Varsity's copyright claim. It has instead claimed ownership of the particular " 'treatment and arrangement' " of the chevrons and lines of the design as they appear at the neckline, waist, skirt, sleeves, and overall cut of each uniform. Brief for Respondents 50. The majority imagines that Varsity submitted something different-that is, only the surface decorations of chevrons and stripes, as in a textile design. As the majority sees it, Varsity's copyright claim would be the same had it submitted a plain rectangular space depicting chevrons and stripes, like swaths from a bolt of fabric. But considered on their own, the simple stripes are plainly unoriginal. Varsity, then, seeks to do indirectly what it cannot do directly: bring along the design and cut of the dresses by seeking to protect surface decorations whose "treatment and arrangement" are coextensive with that design and cut . As Varsity would have it, it would prevent its competitors from making useful three-dimensional cheerleader uniforms by submitting plainly unoriginal chevrons and stripes as cut and arranged on a useful article. But with that cut and arrangement, the resulting pictures on which Varsity seeks protection do not simply depict designs. They depict clothing. They depict the useful articles of which the designs are inextricable parts. And Varsity cannot obtain copyright protection that would give them the power to prevent others from making those useful uniforms, any more than Van Gogh can copyright comfortable old shoes by painting their likeness.

I fear that, in looking past the three-dimensional design inherent in Varsity's claim by treating it as if it were no more than a design for a bolt of cloth, the majority has lost sight of its own important limiting principle. One may not "claim a copyright in a useful article merely by creating a replica of that article in some other medium," such as in a picture. Ante, at 1010. That is to say, one cannot obtain a copyright that would give its holder "any rights in the useful article that inspired it." Ante, at 1010.

With respect, I dissent.

APPENDIX TO OPINION OF BREYER, J.