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17 U.S.C. § 103 — Subject matter of copyright: Compilations and derivative works

submitted 50 years ago by Pub. L. 94-553 to r/title-17-COPYRIGHTS · 115 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

This section says copyright also covers compilations and derivative works, like anthologies or translations. But if part of that work uses someone else's material unlawfully, copyright doesn't protect that part. Copyright in the new work only covers what the author actually added.

(a) Copyright, as described in section 102, also covers compilations and derivative works. But this protection does not extend to any part of the work that used existing material unlawfully. (b) The copyright in a compilation or derivative work only covers the material the work's author actually contributed — not the pre-existing material used in it. This copyright does not give the author any exclusive right to that pre-existing material. And the copyright in the new work is independent — it doesn't change or expand the scope, length, ownership, or existence of any copyright already protecting the pre-existing material.
the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain
(a)

The subject matter of copyright as specified by section 102 includes compilations and derivative works, but protection for a work employing preexisting material in which copyright subsists does not extend to any part of the work in which such material has been used unlawfully.

(b)

The copyright in a compilation or derivative work extends only to the material contributed by the author of such work, as distinguished from the preexisting material employed in the work, and does not imply any exclusive right in the preexisting material. The copyright in such work is independent of, and does not affect or enlarge the scope, duration, ownership, or subsistence of, any copyright protection in the preexisting material.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2545.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit
  • 1976Enacted · Pub. L. 94-553 · 90 Stat. 2545

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 94-553 on 1976-10-19.

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