Welcome to Attorney Steve® Copyright College™ – The Ultimate Copyright Law Glossary!!!

Here are some of the main Copyright definitions you might want to know with links to resources to help you understand the concepts.
- 1909 Copyright Act
- 1976 Copyright Act
- Access to Copyright Works
- Anonymous Work
- Applicant
- Appeal
- Application Forms
- Assignment of copyright
- Architectural Works & Designs
- Audio Visual Work
- Author Created
- Authorship Statement
- Authors widow or widower
- Authorized Agent
- Autodesk Software Audits (copyright infringement audits for Autocad, Revit, Maya, Inventor and other Autodesk products). Typically brought by the law firm of Donahue Fitzgerald in the San Francisco Bay area.
- Berne Convention [According to Wikipedia – “The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, is an international agreement governing copyright, which was first accepted in Berne, Switzerland, in 1886. The Berne Convention formally mandated several aspects of modern copyright law; it introduced the concept that a copyright exists the moment a work is “fixed”, rather than requiring registration. It also enforces a requirement that countries recognize copyrights held by the citizens of all other parties to the convention”].
- Best Edition
- Board
- “Bundle of Rights”
- Business Software Alliance [Video] – Pertains to Microsoft, Adobe and Autodesk Software Audits (and other companies). These are brought as copyright infringement investigations.
- CARP [Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel]
- Cease and Desist Letter (a letter informing you that you or your company has infringed a copyright of another and to STOP doing it. Sometimes monetary and other demands are made as well).
- Certificate of Registration
- Certification
- Choreographic Works
- Circulars
- Claim
- Claimant
- Collective Work
- Compilation
- Compulsory License (Aka “Statutory license”) (Aka “Compulsory mechanical license”)
- Computer Programs (“A ‘computer program' is a set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result.” 17 U.S.C. § 101.)
- Co-Ownership
- Copying
- Copyleft (an arrangement whereby software or artistic work may be used, modified, and distributed freely on condition that anything derived from it is bound by the same condition.Copyright Act of 1976)
- Copyrightable
- Copyright Card Catalog
- Copyright Claimant
- Copyright Damages [Video]
- Copyright Defenses [Video]
- Copyright Image
- Copyright Logo
- Copyright Owner (proprietor)
- Copyright Music [Circular 56a]
- Copyrighting Names
- Copyright Notice
- Copyright Search
- Copyright Strike (youtube)
- Copyright Symbol
- Copywrite (common misspelling)
- Copywrite.gov (common misspelling for US copyright office website Copyright.gov)
- Created
- Creative commons [Video]
- Criminal Copyright Law
- DART
- Database Protection
- Date of Recordation
- De Minimis
- Deposit
- Deposit Account
- Deposit Copies
- Derivative Works
- Display
- DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)
- DMCA agent registration
- DMCA registered agent search tool
- DMCA takedown notice
- DMCA Anti-Circumvention (access controlled technology)
- eCO
- EDR (Effective Date of Registration)
- Eligible Country
- eSearch
- eService
- Exclusive License
- Exclusive Rights
- Expedited
- Fair Use Defense [Video]
- Fair Use Disclaimer [Video]
- Fashion & Fabric Design [Star Fabric cases] [Joanne Fabric cases]
- Federal Court Exclusive Jurisdiction
- Federal Register
- Filing fees
- “Fixed in a Tangible Medium of Expression” (a creative work must be fixed to be protected)
- Foreign Work
- Forms
- GATT Registrations (Registrations that cover copyright claims in a work in which U.S. copyright was restored under the 1994 Uruguay Round Agreements Act).
- Graphic Works
- Group Registration
- How to Copyright a Name
- How to Search Copyrights Online [Video]
- Houdini Copyright Trick
- Hull Design
- Identifying Material (aka “ID Material”)
- Infringement
- Innocent infringement
- Injunction
- International Copyright Law
- ISBN (International Standard Book Number)
- ISRC (International Standard Recording Code)
- ISSN (International Standard Serial Number)
- Jewelry Copyright (Jewelry such as creative bracelets, rings, and necklaces can be copyrighted and lead to infringement claims)
- Joint Work
- Kinkos (fair use summaries)
- License
- Licensing copyright
- Licensing Division (The Licensing Division in the U.S. Copyright Office administers certain statutory licenses set forth in the Copyright Act. The Division collects royalty payments and examines statements of account for the cable statutory license (17 U.S.C. § C OMPENDIUM OF U . S . COPYRIGHT OFFICE PRACTICES , Third Edition Glossary : 11 12/22/2014 111), the satellite statutory license for retransmission of distant television broadcast stations (17 U.S.C. § 119), and the statutory license for digital audio recording technology (17 U.S.C. chapter 10). The Division also accepts and records documents associated with the use of the mechanical statutory license (17 U.S.C. § 115). The Division deducts its full operating costs from the royalty fees and invests the balance in interest-bearing securities with the U.S. Treasury for later distribution to copyright owners. For further information see Circular 75,
- Limitation of Claim
- Linda Dash Poem
- LIT (Literary Division of US Copyright Office)
- Literary Works
- Lost Profits
- Malibu Media (this producer of the x-art adult porno movies has filed thousands of lawsuits for illegal movie downloads and sharing, brought as infringement claims in federal court). Some people have referred to this as forcing a “shame settlement.” We help clients defend these cases.
- Mandatory Deposit Copy
- Manufacturing Clause
- Mask Work
- Motion Pictures
- Musical Ringtones
- Music Infringement
- Non Exclusive License
- Office Portal
- Online Public Record
- PA (Performing Art Division of U.S. Copyright Office)
- Pantomime
- Parody (when you are using a copyrighted work to comment on it, or criticize it, this may be protected as fair use/first amendment)
- Peer-to-Peer (P2P Networking)
- Phonorecord
- Photo Infringement (infringement of a photo, image, gif, jpeg or other digital artwork, illustration or drawing can lead to a lawsuit in federal court). We can bring and defend these claims.
- Pictoral, Graphic or Sculptural
- PIO (Public Information Office)
- Pro Licensing
- Preregistration
- Pseudonymous Work
- Publication
- Public Display
- Public Domain (this refers to works that are in the “public domain” and available to be used WITHOUT permission of the copyright holder. This could be works of authorship “dedicated” to the public domain, or an “expired” copyright. Click here to watch our video on the TOP 4 WEBSITES TO FIND PUBLIC DOMAIN PHOTOGRAPHS to use to build your YouTube channel legally.
- Public Record
- Public Performance
- Publish
- Register of Copyrights
- Registration
- Registration Materials
- Renewal Claim
- Renewal Registration
- Request for Reconsideration
- Review Board
- RRCS
- Scenes a Faire
- Sculptural Works
- Secure test
- Semiconductor Chip Product
- Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984 (Semiconductor chips can be registered)
- Serials (Copyright Circular 62)
- Series of Musical, Spoken or Other Sounds
- Shipping Slip
- Software Audit (an investigation from a company like Autodesk, Microsoft, Adobe, CNC, Vero, Alphacam or the Software License that seeks to identify any unlicensed software and to seek infringement penalties and damages)
- Sound Recording
- Source Code
- Special Handling
- Statutory Damages
- Statutory License
- Striking Similarity
- Substantial Similarity
- Sui Generis
- Supplementary Registration
- Symbol
- [This deals will illegal downloads of music, movies, software or other digital content that can be shared on P2P networks. Illegal file sharing can lead to warning notices from your ISP, cease and desist letters, or a federal court lawsuit from companies like ME2 Productions, London Has Fallen, and Malibu Media, a prolific filer of federal court lawsuits]
- Transfer of Ownership
- Transformative Works
- Unclaimable Material
- Unit of Publication
- United States Code – Title 17
- Unpublished Work
- Useful Article
- Utilitarian
- Vessel Design
- Video Infringement
- Visual Arts
- Willful Infringement (this can be anything from “turning a blind eye” allowing infringement in your company or organization, or worse, intentional piracy of content such as movies, software or music. Click here to watch a VIDEO on this topic.
- WIPO
- Work for Hire Agreement
- Works of the Performing Arts
- Work of the United States Government
- Work of Visual Art
What are some of the major copyright related laws in the U.S.?
We can help your company navigate these complicated copyright issues:
- The United States ascension to the Universal Copyright Convention
- Computer Software Rental Amendments Act of 1990
- Semiconductor International Protection Extension Act of 1991
- Copyright Renewal Act of 1992
- The Berne Convention
- The Digital Millenium Copyright Act
- Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999
- Work Made for Hire and Copyright Corrections Act of 2000
- Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act of 2002
- The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act
- Piracy and Counterfeiting Amendments Act of 1982
- Record Rental Amendment of 1984
- Audio Home Recording Act of 1992
- Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995
- Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984
- Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990
- Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act
- Anti-counterfeiting Consumer Protection Act of 1996
- No Electronic Theft (NET) Act
- Fairness in Music Licensing Act of 1998
- Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act
- Computer Maintenance Competition Assurance Act
Contact a Copyright Law Firm
We can help you with Copyright protection, registration, licensing, fair use analysis and opinion letters (becoming more important) parody, software audits, torrent defense and general copyright arbitration, mediation and litigation. Call us for a free consultation at (877) 276-5084.