been released to the public. But in order to preserve the benefits of this procedure, the copyright owner must seek an actual registration for the work shortly after it has been published or infringed. For the vast majority of copyright owners, preregistration is not useful. To be eligible for preregistration, a work of authorship must fall within one or more of the following classes of works: [i] motion pictures; (if) sound recordings; (iii] musical compositions; [iv] literary works being prepared for publication in book form; [v] computer programs (including videogames]; or [vi] advertising or marketing photographs. Works that do not fall within these classes are not eligible for this procedure.
Pseudonymous work: "A 'pseudonymous work' is a work on the copies or phonorecords of which the author is identified under a fictitious name." 17 U.S.C. § 101.
Publication: "'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. The offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display, constitutes publication. A public performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute publication." 17 U.S.C. § 101.
Public Catalog: See "online public record."
Public display: See "public performance and public display."
Public domain: A work of authorship that is not protected by copyright is in the public domain. In the United States, a copyrighted work enters the public domain when its full copyright term has expired. In addition, works published in the United States without a copyright notice on or before March 1, 1989 may be in the public domain, and works registered or published in the United States on or before December 31, 1963 may be in the public domain if the copyright was not renewed in a timely manner. The status of a creative work which, through expiration of term or failure to comply with statutory formalities, is not protected by copyright.
Publicly: See "public performance and public display."
Public performance: See "public performance and public display."
Public performance and public display: "To perform or display a work 'publicly' means
1. to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered; or
2. to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work to a place specified by clause (1] or to the public, by means of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same time or at different times."
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