Tag: Glossary Guide

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

“A ‘mask work’ is a series of related images, however fixed or encoded — (A) having or representing the predetermined, three-dimensional pattern of metallic, insulating, or semiconductor material present or removed from the layers of a semiconductor chip product; and (B) in which series the relation of the images to one another is that each… Continue reading Mask work

Section 601 of the 1976 Copyright Act, which was repealed by the Copyright Cleanup, Clarification, and Corrections Act of 2010. Prior to 1986, United States authors who claimed copyright in magazines, newspapers, and books published and printed in the English language were required to indicate that the work was manufactured in the United States or… Continue reading Manufacturing clause

A deposit copy sent to the U.S. Copyright Office pursuant to Section 407 of the Copyright Act. Section 407 provides that the owner of copyright or the owner of the exclusive right of publication in a work published in the United States shall deposit two copies or phonorecords of the best edition of the work… Continue reading Mandatory deposit copy

“‘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.” 17 U.S.C. § 101. A literary work is a nondramatic work… Continue reading Literary works

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

The portion of the application that identifies copyrightable material that has been excluded from the claim. It is typically used to exclude previously published material, previously registered material, public domain material, and/or material that is not owned by the claimant named in the application. In the online application, this portion of the application includes the… Continue reading Limitation of claim