Chapter 900
PUBLICATION
901
Applicability of this chapter. The provisions of this chapter are applicable only to acts which occurred on or after January 1, 1978. Copyright Office practices concerning publication before January 1, 1978, are stated in Compendium I and generally still apply.
902
Statutory provisions. 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. 17 U.S.C. 101.903
Authorization by the copyright owner. Not included in the statutory definition of "publication" but implicit in the meaning of the term as applied to copyright registration and related activities is the requirement that acts constituting publication must be by the copyright owner or under his or her authority. The unauthorized acts of others do not result in such publication. Section 106 of the current Act explicitly provides that the owner of copyright has the sole power to authorize distribution of "copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending." See 17 U.S.C. 106(3).
904
General policy concerning publication. The following points represent the general policy of the Copyright Office concerning publication:
1)
The Office will ordinarily not attempt to decide whether or not publication has occurred but will generally leave this decision to the applicant.
2)
The Office will not attempt to make factual investigations to determine whether or not publication has occurred.
3)
When asked for advice, the Office will ordinarily refrain from taking a definite position, but will quote the statutory definition and discuss the meaning of publication in general terms.
900-1
[1984]
