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(a) Official Records: a series of printed publications relating to the proceedings of organs or conferences of the United Nations. 2/ They include verbatim or summary records, documents or check-lists of documents, issued in the form of annexes to those records, including periodic supplements, such as the quarterly ones of the Security Council; and reports to those organs of their subordinate or affiliated bodies, compilations of resolutions, certain reports of the Secretary-General and other selected publications, which are issued in the form of supplements;
(b) United Nations documents: written material officially issued under a United Nations document symbol, regardless of the form of production, although, in practice, the term is applied mainly to material offset from typescript and issued under a masthead. The term also applies to written material issued simultaneously or sequentially in the form of documents and publications;
(c) Public information material: publications, periodicals, brochures, pamphlets, press releases, flyers, catalogues and other materials designed primarily to inform about United Nations activities. For the purposes of this instruction the term does not include public information that is offered for sale, which may be subject to copyright registration.
3. Copyright protection will, as a general rule, be sought for all recurrent publications, studies or reports issued under the authorization of the Publications Board. In exceptional circumstances author departments may seek the concurrence of the Publications Board to obtain copyright protection for a publication in one of the categories defined in paragraph 2. Copyright protection will not be sought for publications, the legislative authority for which contemplates that the material remain in the public domain.
II. PRACTICE REGARDING COPYRIGHT
4. Prior to the initial copyrighting of any recurrent publication, the Publications Board will review with author departments those listed in the consolidated publications programme. Author departments will be asked to identify those publications which it considers should not be copyrighted and shall supply the Board with copies of the legislative mandates for those titles to assist the Board to determine whether their copyrighting is appropriate.
5. In the case of studies and reports, when author departments submit the manuscripts for processing they should certify, by indicating on the D-2 form (or its equivalent at other duty stations), that the legislative authority authorizing the publication is consistent with its being copyrighted and that the material is not in the public domain.
6. In the case of doubt regarding interpretation of the legislative authority, the Office of Legal Affairs will be consulted and its determination will be forwarded to the Publications Board.
