U.S.A. Copyright Law by Library of Congress. Copyright Office (best romantic novels to read .txt) 📕

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 "Geneva Phonograms Convention" is the Convention for the Protection

of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their

Phonograms, concluded at Geneva, Switzerland, on October 29, 1971. [9]

The "gross square feet of space" of an establishment means the entire

interior space of that establishment, and any adjoining outdoor space

used to serve patrons, whether on a seasonal basis or otherwise. [10]

The terms "including" and "such as" are illustrative and not limitative.

An "international agreement" is-

(1) the Universal Copyright Convention;

(2) the Geneva Phonograms Convention;

(3) the Berne Convention;

(4) the WTO Agreement;

(5) the WIPO Copyright Treaty; [11]

(6) the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty; [12] and

(7) any other copyright treaty to which the United States is a party. [13]

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.

A "performing rights society" is an association, corporation, or other

entity that licenses the public performance of nondramatic musical works

on behalf of copyright owners of such works, such as the American

Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music,

Inc. (BMI), and SESAC, Inc. [14]

"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, diagrams, models,

and technical drawings, including architectural plans. 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. [15]

For purposes of section 513, a "proprietor" is an individual,

corporation, partnership, or other entity, as the case may be, that owns

an establishment or a food service or drinking establishment, except

that no owner or operator of a radio or television station licensed by

the Federal Communications Commission, cable system or satellite

carrier, cable or satellite carrier service or programmer, provider of

online services or network access or the operator of facilities

therefor, telecommunications company, or any other such audio or

audiovisual service or programmer now known or as may be developed in

the future, commercial subscription music service, or owner or operator

of any other transmission service, shall under any circumstances be

deemed to be a proprietor. [16]

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.

"Registration", for purposes of sections 205(c)(2), 405, 406, 410(d),

411, 412, and 506(e), means a registration of a claim in the original or

the renewed and extended term of copyright. [17]

"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.

A "treaty party" is a country or intergovernmental organization other

than the United States that is a party to an international agreement. [18]

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.

For purposes of section 411, a work is a "United States work" only if:

(1) in the case of a published work, the work is first published-

(A) in the United States;

(B) simultaneously in the United States and another treaty party or

parties, whose law grants a term of copyright protection that is the

same as or longer than the term provided in the United States;

(C) simultaneously in the United States and a foreign nation that is not

a treaty party; or

(D) in a foreign nation that is not a treaty party, and all of the

authors of the work are nationals, domiciliaries, or habitual residents

of, or in the case of an audiovisual work legal entities with

headquarters in, the United States;

(2) in the case of an unpublished work, all the authors of the work are

nationals, domiciliaries, or habitual residents of the United States,

or, in the case of an unpublished audiovisual work, all the authors are

legal entities with headquarters in the United States; or

(3) in the case of a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work incorporated

in a building or structure, the building or structure is located in the

United States. [19]

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.

The "WIPO Copyright Treaty" is the WIPO Copyright Treaty concluded at

Geneva, Switzerland, on December 20, 1996. [20]

The "WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty" is the WIPO Performances

and Phonograms Treaty concluded at Geneva, Switzerland, on December 20,

[21]

A "work of visual art" is-

(1) a painting, drawing, print or sculpture, existing in a single copy,

in a limited edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and

consecutively numbered by the author, or, in the case of a sculpture, in

multiple cast, carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are

consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other

identifying mark of the author; or

(2) a still photographic image produced for exhibition purposes only,

existing in a single copy that is signed by the author, or in a limited

edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and consecutively

numbered by the author.

A work of visual art does not include-

(A)(i) any poster, map, globe, chart, technical drawing, diagram, model,

applied art, motion picture or other audiovisual work, book, magazine,

newspaper, periodical, data base, electronic information service,

electronic publication, or similar publication;

(ii) any merchandising item or advertising, promotional, descriptive,

covering, or packaging material or container;

(iii) any portion or part of any item described in clause (i) or (ii);

(B) any work made for hire; or

(C) any work not subject to copyright protection under this title. [22]

A "work of the United States Government" is a work prepared by an

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.

In determining whether any work is eligible to be considered a work made

for hire under paragraph (2), neither the amendment contained in section

1011(d) of the Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform

Act of 1999, as enacted by section 1000(a)(9) of Public Law 106-113, nor

the deletion of the words added by that amendment--

(A) shall be considered or otherwise given any legal significance, or

(B) shall be interpreted to indicate congressional approval or

disapproval of, or acquiescence in, any judicial determination,

by the courts or the Copyright Office. Paragraph (2) shall be

interpreted as if both section 2(a)(1) of the Work Made For Hire and

Copyright Corrections Act of 2000 and section 1011(d) of the

Intellectual Property and