As used in this title, the following terms and their variant forms mean
the following:
An "anonymous work" is a work on the copies or phonorecords of which no
natural person is identified as author.
"Audiovisual works" are works that consist of a series of related
images which are intrinsically intended to be shown by the use of
machines or devices such as projectors, viewers, or electronic
equipment, together with accompanying sounds, if any, regardless of the
nature of the material objects, such as films or tapes, in which the
works are embodied.
The "best edition" of a work is the edition, published in the United
States at any time before the date of deposit, that the Library of
Congress determines to be most suitable for its purposes.
A person's "children" are that person's immediate offspring, whether
legitimate or not, and any children legally adopted by that person.
A "collective work" is a work, such as a periodical issue, anthology,
or encyclopedia, in which a number of contributions, constituting
separate and independent works in themselves, are assembled into a
collective whole.
A "compilation" is a work formed by the collection and assembling of
preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or
arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes
an original work of authorship. The term "compilation" includes
collective works.
A "computer program" is a set of statements or instructions to be used
directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain
result.
"Copies" are material objects, other than phonorecords, in which a work
is fixed by any method now known or later developed, and from which the
work can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either
directly or with the aid of a machine or device. The term "copies"
includes the material object, other than a phonorecord, in which the
work is first fixed.
"Copyright owner," with respect to any one of the exclusive rights
comprised in a copyright, refers to the owner of that particular right.
A work is "created" when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the
first time; where a work is prepared over a period of time, the portion
of it that has been fixed at any particular time constitutes the work
as of that time, and where the work has been prepared in different
versions, each version constitutes a separate work.
A "derivative work" is a work based upon one or more preexisting works,
such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization,
fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art
reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a
work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. A work consisting of
editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications
which, as a whole, represent an original work of authorship, is a
"derivative work."
A "device," "machine," or "process" is one now known or later developed.
To "display" a work means to show a copy of it, either directly or by
means of a film, slide, television image, or any other device or
processor, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work,
to show individual images nonsequentially.
A work is "fixed" in a tangible medium of expression when its
embodiment in a copy or phonorecord, by or under the authority of the
author, is sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be
perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more
than transitory duration. A work consisting of sounds, images, or
both, that are being transmitted, is "fixed for purposes of this title
if a fixation of the work is being made simultaneously with its
transmission.
The terms "including" and "such as" are illustrative and not limitative.
A "joint work" is a work prepared by two or more authors with the
intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or
interdependent parts of a unitary whole.
"Literary works" are works, other than audiovisual works, expressed in
words, numbers, or other verbal or numerical symbols or indicia,
regardless of the nature of the material objects, such as books,
periodicals, manuscripts, phonorecords, film, tapes, disks, or cards,
in which they are embodied.
"Motion pictures" are audiovisual works consisting of a series of
related images which, when shown in succession, impart an impression
of motion, together with accompanying sounds, if any.
To "perform" a work means to recite, render, play, dance, or act it,
either directly or by means of any device or process or, in the case of
a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to show its images in any
sequence or to make the sounds accompanying it audible.
"Phonorecords" are material objects in which sounds, other than those
accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work, are fixed by
any method now known or later developed, and from which the sounds can
be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or
with the aid of a machine or device. The term "phonorecords" includes
the material object in which the sounds are first fixed.
"Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works" include two-dimensional and
three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art, photographs,
prints and art reproductions, maps, globes, charts, technical drawings,
diagrams, and models. Such works shall include works of artistic
craftsmanship insofar as their form but not their mechanical or
utilitarian aspects are concerned; the design of a useful article, as
defined in this section, shall be considered a pictorial, graphic, 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.
A "pseudonymous work" is a work on the copies or phonorecords of which
the author is identified under a fictitious name.
"Publication" is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work
to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental,
lease, or lending. The offering to distribute copies or phonorecords
to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public
performance, or public display, constitutes publication. A public
performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute
publication.
To perform or display a work "publicly" means--
(1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any
place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle
of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered; or,
(2) to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of
the work to a place specified by clause (1) or to the public, by means
of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of
receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in
separate places and at the same time or at different times.
"Sound recordings" are works that result from the fixation of a series
of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sounds
accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work, regardless of
the nature of the material objects, such as disks, tapes, or other
phonorecords, in which they are embodied.
"State" includes the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, and any territories to which this title is made applicable
by an Act of Congress.
A "Transfer of copyright ownership" is an assignment, mortgage,
exclusive license, or any other conveyance, alienation, or
hypothecation of a copyright or of any of the exclusive rights
comprised in a copyright, whether or not it is limited in time or place
of effect, but not including a nonexclusive license.
A "transmission program" is a body of material that, as an aggregate,
has been produced for the sole purpose of transmission to the public in
sequence and as a unit.
To "transmit" a performance or display is to communicate it by any
device or process whereby images or sounds are received beyond the
place from which they are sent.
The "United States," when used in a geographical sense, comprises the
several States, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, and the organized territories under the jurisdiction of the
United States Government.
A "useful article" is an article having an intrinsic utilitarian
function that is not merely to portray the appearance of the article or
to convey information. An article that is normally a part of a useful
article is considered a "useful article."
The author's "widow" or "widower" is the author's surviving spouse
under the law of the author's domicile at the time of his or her death,
whether or not the spouse has later remarried.
A "work of the United States Government" is a work prepared by any
officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that
person's official duties.
A "work made for hire" is--
(1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her
employment; or
(2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution
to a collective work, as a part of a motion picture or other
audiovisual work, as a translation, as a supplementary work, as a
compilation, as an instructional text, as a test, as answer material
for a test, or as an atlas, if the parties expressly agree in a written
instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made
for hire. For the purpose of the foregoing sentence, a "supplementary
work" is a work prepared for publication as a secondary adjunct to a
work by another author for the purpose of introducing, concluding,
illustrating, explaining, revising, commenting upon, or assisting in
the use of the other work, such as forewords, afterwords, pictorial
illustrations, maps, charts, tables, editorial notes, musical
arrangements, answer material for tests, bibliographies, appendixes,
and indexes, and an "instructional text" is a literary, pictorial, or
graphic work prepared for publication and with the purpose of use in
systematic instructional activities.