author: either the person who actually created the work or, if the work was made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared.

Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works: an international copyright treaty signed by 96 countries, including the United States, which became a member in 1988. Each member state of the Berne Convention recognizes works authored by nationals of other contracting states as copyrighted. The Berne Convention eliminated the need for copyright registration or notice, as copyright is now automatically granted.

copyright: a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works.

Copyright Act of 1976 (Title 17): Federal legislation enacted by Congress to protect to rights of creators of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.

copyright claimant: either the author of the work or a person or organization that has obtained ownership of all the rights under the copyright initially belonging to the author.

Copyright Clearance Center: formed in 1978 to facilitate compliance with U.S. copyright law, the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) provides licensing systems for the reproduction and distribution of copyrighted materials in print and electronic formats.

copyright notice: A mark showing when an original work was first put into fixed form, such as . While the Berne Convention eliminated the need for copyright notice on works created after 1989, it is recommended to include copyright notice on all original works. The accepted format for copyright notice is either the , or the word Copyrighted, followed by the year of original publication, and the author's name. I.e. 2002 by Edward Jones.

copyright registration: a legal formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright.

coursepacks: collections of materials (articles, book chapters, etc.) that are photocopied for classroom use or posted electronically on academic intranets for use in distance education.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act: legislation that implements two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties into U.S. Copyright Law: the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. The first major provision requires contracting parties to provide legal remedies against circumventing technological protection measures to gain unauthorized access to a copyrighted work. The second provision facilitates enforcement of the copyright owner's right to control access to his copyrighted work by prohibiting the manufacturing or making available technologies, products and services that are used to defeat technological measures controlling access.

fair use: various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular copyrighted work may be considered “fair,” such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. The permission of the copyright owner is not required in these limited instances. See the Fair Use section of this web site for more information.

infringement: illegal use of a copyrighted work.

Library of Congress: when copyrighted works are deposited at the U.S. Copyright Office, they are housed in the Library of Congress, located in Washington D.C.

public domain: any work that is not copyright protected is considered to be in the "public domain", and includes materials created prior to 1922, works created for public use, government documents unless otherwise specified, and works whose copyright has expired.

reproduction right: the exclusive right granted to the owner of a copyright to make or authorize others to make copies of his or her work.

royalty fee: fee charged by the copyright owner to use their copyrighted work.

U.S. Copyright Office: a branch of the Library of Congress.

WIPO Copyright Treaty: Passed in 1996, this treaty provides additional copyright protections considered necessary, ensuring that computer programs are protected as literary works and that the arrangement and selection of material in databases is protected. It also provides authors with control over the rental and distribution of their work. Additionally, it prohibits circumvention of technological measures for the protection of works and unauthorized modification of rights management information contained in works.