Category: copyright

“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.” 17 U.S.C. § 101.

The art of imitating, presenting, or acting out situations, characters, or events through the use of physical gestures and bodily movements.

An abbreviation for the “Performing Arts Division” of the U.S. Copyright Office.

The database posted on the U.S. Copyright Office’s website containing records relating to registrations and document recordations issued after 1978. Also known as the Public Catalog.

An abbreviation for the U.S. Copyright Office’s “Office of the General Counsel.”

“An official certification is a certification, by the appropriate Government official, that the original of the document is on file in a public office and that the reproduction is a true copy of the original.” 37 C.F.R. § 201.4(a)(3)(ii) (italics omitted).

A representation of a computer program that is written in a machine language consisting of binary code (i.e., ones and zeroes). Object code is comprehensible to a computer or other electronic device, but as a general rule, it is not comprehensible to human beings.

A nonexclusive license is “a license of intellectual property rights that gives the licensee a right to use, make, or sell the licensed item on a shared basis with the licensor and possibly other licensees.” Black’s Law Dictionary 1004 (9th ed. 2009).

The portion of a paper application that identifies the copyrightable material created by the author named in the application. In the online application, this portion of the application is referred to as the “Author Created” field.

“‘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.” 17 U.S.C. § 101. The definition of “motion pictures” does not include the following: Unauthorized fixations of live performances or telecasts. Live telecasts that are not fixed… Continue reading Motion pictures