Under copyright law, 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. Offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of people for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display also constitutes publication.
Whether a work is published has important implications, including:
- The year of publication may determine the length of the copyright term for a work made for hire or an anonymous or pseudonymous work.
- The year of publication may determine the length of the copyright term if the work was created before January 1, 1978, and was published or registered before that date.
- The year of publication may determine the length of the copyright term if the work was created before January 1, 1978, and was first published between January 1, 1978, and December 31, 2002.
- The date and nation of first publication may determine if a non-U.S. work is eligible for copyright protection in the United States.
- A certificate of registration creates certain legal presumptions if the work is registered before or within five years after the work was first published.
- A copyright owner may be entitled to claim statutory damages and attorneys’ fees in an infringement lawsuit if the work was registered before the infringement began or within three months after the first publication of that work.
- Many of the exceptions and limitations on the copyright owner’s exclusive rights vary depending on whether the work is published or unpublished.
- As a general rule, works published before March 1, 1989, must be published with a valid copyright notice.
- The deposit requirements for registering a published work differ from the requirements for registering an unpublished work.
- Works published in the United States may be subject to mandatory deposit with the Library of Congress. For more information, see “What Is Mandatory Deposit?” below.
When you register your work with the Office, you must determine whether the work is published or unpublished. For further information regarding publication, see chapter 1900 of Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices.