900-7
908
Public performance or display not a publication. (cont'd)
908.03
Public or private. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
2)
A jazz band performing an original song as part of its act on a network television show is not publication.
3)
It is not publication for a composer to perform his work in his home or in public.
909
Publication of recorded material first distributed before January 1, 1978. Where a musical, dramatic, or literary work was distributed only in the form of phonorecords before January 1, 1978, such musical, dramatic, or literary work was not registerable as a published work under the Act of 1909, as amended. Under the present law, the public distribution of phonorecords on or after January 1, 1978, publishes the musical, dramatic, or literary works recorded thereon. Therefore, if publication of a pre-1978 phonorecord continued on January 1, 1978, that date is considered to be the date of first publication of the underlying work for purposes of copyright registration.
910
Date and nation of first publication. A statement of the date of first publication is required on applications for registration of claims to copyright in published works. The nation of first publication should also be given.
910.01
General policy concerning date and nation of first publication. The Copyright Office will generally accept w1thout question the date of first publication given by the applicant. Although the Office may offer general guidelines concerning the selection of a date, the final choice is ordinarily left to the applicant. The Office will generally decline to accept the date given only if a statement made by the applicant clearly shows that first publication did not occur on that date. The Office will correspond with the applicant if it has information inconsistent with the statement used by the applicant as the basis for the date given.
[1984]
