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Subject:RE: What's the definition of a published author From:"Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- Users -dot- com> To:<TECHWR-L -at- LISTS -dot- RAYCOMM -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 5 Jan 2004 16:20:25 -0500
Responding to this a bit belatedly, I was under the impression -- which I realize could be mistaken -- that if you registered a work as an unpublished work, and then published it, you had to re-register in addition to providing the required copies. In any case, my concern was that if you accidentally changed a work's status from unpublished to published, and didn't take the required action, you'd lose whatever protection you got by registering it.
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael McCallister [mailto:Michae -dot- McCallister -at- msbinfo -dot- com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 2:46 PM
Subject: RE: What's the definition of a published author
David,
But I'm not sure there are any *consequences* related to handing out multiple copies aside from the deposit requirement (i.e., sending two more copies to the Library of Congress). How *I* would interpret this (and I Am Not A Lawyer) is: I tell the list "I've prepared a 'Guide to Getting Published.' Email me if you want it; feel free to send it to anyone you want."
The announcement constitutes publication.
If, OTOH, I wrote a 'Guide to Getting Published' and only gave it to people who asked me "How do I get published?", that doesn't count. Or, say I find a paper I wrote in college, find it uniquely prescient and astute and start handing it out to everyone I know (but no one I don't know). That isn't publication either, unless I tell the recipients "Post this paper on every telephone pole (public display), or email it to all your friends (further distribution).
Just some thoughts.
Mike McCallister
-----Original Message-----
From: Downing, David [mailto:DavidDowning -at- Users -dot- com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 1:05 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: What's the definition of a published author
This paragraph that you quoted is what I remember, and it gives me the same feeling now that it did when I first read it -- that if you start giving out copies of any of your work under any circumstances, you'd better be careful lest you accidentally meet the conditions of 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.
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