Copyright
Copyright
Subject Matter, Rights, Duration, and Exhaustion
Originality, fixation, authorship, work for hire, idea/expression, facts and compilations, ownership, six exclusive rights, duration, restoration, first sale, licenses, infringement, and limits.
Structured Visual
Jurisdiction: US; as of 2026-08-28; not legal advice; Render structure, refuse interpretation, cite, abstain, and hand off.
RENDER STRUCTURE · REFUSE INTERPRETATION · CITE · ABSTAIN · HAND-OFF: render structure, refuse interpretation, cite provenance, abstain when unsupported, and hand off to human review.
Scope and honesty note
Jurisdiction: United States federal IP, privacy, consumer-data, and cybersecurity overview as of 2026-08-29; state, international, sectoral, contractual, factual, procedural, remedial, and version differences matter. Synthetic records are classroom inputs, not legal, licensing, infringement, registration, patentability, trademark, trade-secret, privacy, HIPAA, consumer-reporting, security, incident-response, criminal, health, identity or compliance advice. The model cannot determine ownership, protection, validity, infringement, fair use, obviousness, confusion, secrecy, license compatibility, consent, authorization, breach, liability, reporting, access, eligibility or outcome. Cite, expose gaps, abstain, and hand off.
See the essential structure first
Start with this deliberately incomplete structure, then use the pinned authorities, worked application, exceptions, and handoff below. This deliberately incomplete preview has 4 nodes; exceptions and legal consequences remain in the sourced prose below.
Jurisdiction: US; as of 2026-08-28; not legal advice; Render structure, refuse interpretation, cite, abstain, and hand off.
RENDER STRUCTURE · REFUSE INTERPRETATION · CITE · ABSTAIN · HAND-OFF: render structure, refuse interpretation, cite provenance, abstain when unsupported, and hand off to human review.
Begin with IP, privacy, or security doctrine
Copyright requires original expression fixed in a tangible medium; ideas, procedures, systems, methods and facts are not protected as such, though original expression or compilation selection and arrangement may be. Section One-Zero-Six lists six distinct exclusive rights: reproduction, derivative works, distribution, public performance, public display, and digital audio transmission of sound recordings. Duration depends on authorship and dates. Golan confirms Congress can restore qualifying foreign works from the domestic public domain within constitutional limits. Kirtsaeng applies first sale to lawfully made foreign copies, but first sale exhausts the distribution right in a particular copy—not reproduction, adaptation, performance or display rights.
Subject matter and idea/expression
The statute pins fixed original works, categories, and the exclusion of ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods, concepts, principles and discoveries. Verbatim source text: “§102. Subject matter of copyright: In general (a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of authorship include the following categories: (1) literary works; (2) musical works, including any accompanying words; (3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music; (4) pantomimes and choreographic works; (5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; (6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works; (7) sound recordings; and (8) architectural works. (b) In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work. ( Pub. L. 94–553, title I, §101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2544 ; Pub. L. 101–650, title VII, §703, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5133 .)” Source: 17 U.S.C. § 102; https://www.neochart.com/catalog/federal/title_17/section_102/title17_sec102_292bd01e605d/102_subject_matter_of_copyright_in_general_0001/index.html; data via neochart.com, snapshot 2026-08.
Six exclusive rights
The statute pins reproduction, derivative works, distribution, public performance, public display, and digital-audio-transmission rights subject to statutory limitations. Verbatim source text: “§ 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following: (1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords; (2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work; (3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending; (4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly; (5) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and (6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission. Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101 Oct. 19, 1976 90 Stat. 2546 Pub. L. 101–318, § 3(d) July 3, 1990 104 Stat. 288 Pub. L. 101–650, title VII, § 704(b)(2) Dec. 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5134 Pub. L. 104–39, § 2 Nov. 1, 1995 109 Stat. 336 Pub. L. 106–44, § 1(g)(2) Aug. 5, 1999 113 Stat. 222 Pub. L. 107–273, div. C, title III, § 13210(4)(A) Nov. 2, 2002 116 Stat. 1909 Historical and Revision Notes General Scope of Copyright. The five fundamental rights that the bill gives to copyright owners—the exclusive rights of reproduction, adaptation, publication, performance, and display—are stated generally in section 106. These exclusive rights, which comprise the so-called “bundle of rights” that is a copyright, are cumulative and may overlap in some cases. Each of the five enumerated rights may be subdivided indefinitely and, as discussed below in connection with section 201, each subdivision of an exclusive right may be owned and enforced separately. The approach of the bill is to set forth the copyright owner’s exclusive rights in broad terms in section 106, and then to provide various limitations, qualifications, or exemptions in the 12 sections that follow. Thus, everything in section 106 is made “subject to sections 107 through 118”, and must be read in conjunction with those provisions. The exclusive rights accorded to a copyright owner under section 106 are “to do and to authorize” any of the activities specified in the five numbered clauses. Use of the phrase “to authorize” is intended to avoid any questions as to the liability of contributory infringers. For example, a person who lawfully acquires an authorized copy of a motion picture would be an infringer if he or she engages in the business of renting it to others for purposes of unauthorized public performance. Rights of Reproduction, Adaptation, and Publication. The first three clauses of section 106, which cover all rights under a copyright except those of performance and display, extend to every kind of copyrighted work. The exclusive rights encompassed by these clauses, though closely related, are independent; they can generally be characterized as rights of copying, recording, adaptation, and publishing. A single act of infringement may violate all of these rights at once, as where a publisher reproduces, adapts, and sells copies of a person’s copyrighted work as part of a publishing venture. Infringement takes place when any one of the rights is violated: where, for example, a printer reproduces copies without selling them or a retailer sells copies without having anything to do with their reproduction. The references to “copies or phonorecords,” although in the plural, are intended here and throughout the bill to include the singular (1 U.S.C. § 1). Reproduction .—Read together with the relevant definitions in section 101, the right “to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords” means the right to produce a material object in which the work is duplicated, transcribed, imitated, or simulated in a fixed form from which it can be “perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.” As under the present law, a copyrighted work would be infringed by reproducing it in whole or in any substantial part, and by duplicating it exactly or by imitation or simulation. Wide departures or variations from the copyrighted work would still be an infringement as long as the author’s “expression” rather than merely the author’s “ideas” are taken. An exception to this general principle, applicable to the reproduction of copyrighted sound recordings, is specified in section 114. “Reproduction” under clause (1) of section 106 is to be distinguished from “display” under clause (5). For a work to be “reproduced,” its fixation in tangible form must be “sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration.” Thus, the showing of images on a screen or tube would not be a violation of clause (1), although it might come within the scope of clause (5). Preparation of Derivative Works .—The exclusive right to prepare derivative works, specified separately in clause (2) of section 106, overlaps the exclusive right of reproduction to some extent. It is broader than that right, however, in the sense that reproduction requires fixation in copies or phonorecords, whereas the preparation of a derivative work, such as a ballet, pantomime, or improvised performance, may be an infringement even though nothing is ever fixed in tangible form. To be an infringement the “derivative work” must be “based upon the copyrighted work,” and the definition in section 101 refers to “a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted.” Thus, to constitute a violation of section 106(2), the infringing work must incorporate a portion of the copyrighted work in some form; for example, a detailed commentary on a work or a programmatic musical composition inspired by a novel would not normally constitute infringements under this clause. Use in Information Storage and Retrieval Systems .—As section 117 declares explicitly, the bill is not intended to alter the present law with respect to the use of copyrighted works in computer systems. Public Distribution .—Clause (3) of section 106 establishes the exclusive right of publication: The right “to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending.” Under this provision the copyright owner would have the right to control the first public distribution of an authorized copy or phonorecord of his work, whether by sale, gift, loan, or some rental or lease arrangement. Likewise, any unauthorized public distribution of copies or phonorecords that were unlawfully made would be an infringement. As section 109 makes clear, however, the copyright owner’s rights under section 106(3) cease with respect to a particular copy or phonorecord once he has parted with ownership of it. Rights of Public Performance and Display. Performing Rights and the “For Profit” Limitation .—The right of public performance under section 106(4) extends to “literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works and sound recordings” and, unlike the equivalent provisions now in effect, is not limited by any “for profit” requirement. The approach of the bill, as in many foreign laws, is first to state the public performance right in broad terms, and then to provide specific exemptions for educational and other nonprofit uses. This approach is more reasonable than the outright exemption of the 1909 statute. The line between commercial and “nonprofit” organizations is increasingly difficult to draw. Many “non-profit” organizations are highly subsidized and capable of paying royalties, and the widespread public exploitation of copyrighted works by public broadcasters and other noncommercial organizations is likely to grow. In addition to these trends, it is worth noting that performances and displays are continuing to supplant markets for printed copies and that in the future a broad “not for profit” exemption could not only hurt authors but could dry up their incentive to write. The exclusive right of public performance is expanded to include not only motion pictures, including works recorded on film, video tape, and video disks, but also audiovisual works such as filmstrips and sets of slides. This provision of section 106(4), which is consistent with the assimilation of motion pictures to audiovisual works throughout the bill, is also related to amendments of the definitions of “display” and “perform” discussed below. The important issue of performing rights in sound recordings is discussed in connection with section 114. Right of Public Display .—Clause (5) of section 106 represents the first explicit statutory recognition in American copyright law of an exclusive right to show a copyrighted work, or an image of it, to the public. The existence or extent of this right under the present statute is uncertain and subject to challenge. The bill would give the owners of copyright in “literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works”, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, the exclusive right “to display the copyrighted work publicly.” Definitions. Under the definitions of “perform,” “display,” “publicly,” and “transmit” in section 101, the concepts of public performance and public display cover not only the initial rendition or showing, but also any further act by which that rendition or showing is transmitted or communicated to the public. Thus, for example: a singer is performing when he or she sings a song; a broadcasting network is performing when it transmits his or her performance (whether simultaneously or from records); a local broadcaster is performing when it transmits the network broadcast; a cable television system is performing when it retransmits the broadcast to its subscribers; and any individual is performing whenever he or she plays a phonorecord embodying the performance or communicates the performance by turning on a receiving set. Although any act by which the initial performance or display is transmitted, repeated, or made to recur would itself be a “performance” or “display” under the bill, it would not be actionable as an infringement unless it were done “publicly,” as defined in section 101. Certain other performances and displays, in addition to those that are “private,” are exempted or given qualified copyright control under sections 107 through 118. To “perform” a work, under the definition in section 101, includes reading a literary work aloud, singing or playing music, dancing a ballet or other choreographic work, and acting out a dramatic work or pantomime. A performance may be accomplished “either directly or by means of any device or process,” including all kinds of equipment for reproducing or amplifying sounds or visual images, any sort of transmitting apparatus, any type of electronic retrieval system, and any other techniques and systems not yet in use or even invented. The definition of “perform” in relation to “a motion picture or other audiovisual work” is “to show its images in any sequence or to make the sounds accompanying it audible.” The showing of portions of a motion picture, filmstrip, or slide set must therefore be sequential to constitute a “performance” rather than a “display”, but no particular order need be maintained. The purely aural performance of a motion picture sound track, or of the sound portions of an audiovisual work, would constitute a performance of the “motion picture or other audiovisual work”; but, where some of the sounds have been reproduced separately on phonorecords, a performance from the phonorecord would not constitute performance of the motion picture or audiovisual work. The corresponding definition of “display” covers any showing of a “copy” of the work, “either directly or by means of a film, slide, television image, or any other device or process.” Since “copies” are defined as including the material object “in which the work is first fixed,” the right of public display applies to original works of art as well as to reproductions of them. With respect to motion pictures and other audiovisual works, it is a “display” (rather than a “performance”) to show their “individual images nonsequentially.” In addition to the direct showings of a copy of a work, “display” would include the projection of an image on a screen or other surface by any method, the transmission of an image by electronic or other means, and the showing of an image on a cathode ray tube, or similar viewing apparatus connected with any sort of information storage and retrieval system. Under clause (1) of the definition of “publicly” in section 101, a performance or display is “public” if it takes place “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.” One of the principal purposes of the definition was to make clear that, contrary to the decision in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp. v. Wyatt , 21 C.O.Bull. 203 (D.Md.1932), performances in “semipublic” places such as clubs, lodges, factories, summer camps, and schools are “public performances” subject to copyright control. The term “a family” in this context would include an individual living alone, so that a gathering confined to the individual’s social acquaintances would normally be regarded as private. Routine meetings of businesses and governmental personnel would be excluded because they do not represent the gathering of a “substantial number of persons.” Clause (2) of the definition of “publicly” in section 101 makes clear that the concepts of public performance and public display include not only performances and displays that occur initially in a public place, but also acts that transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work to the public by means of any device or process. The definition of “transmit”—to communicate a performance or display “by any device or process whereby images or sound are received beyond the place from which they are sent”—is broad enough to include all conceivable forms and combinations of wired or wireless communications media, including but by no means limited to radio and television broadcasting as we know them. Each and every method by which the images or sounds comprising a performance or display are picked up and conveyed is a “transmission,” and if the transmission reaches the public in my [any] form, the case comes within the scope of clauses (4) or (5) of section 106. Under the bill, as under the present law, a performance made available by transmission to the public at large is “public” even though the recipients are not gathered in a single place, and even if there is no proof that any of the potential recipients was operating his receiving apparatus at the time of the transmission. The same principles apply whenever the potential recipients of the transmission represent a limited segment of the public, such as the occupants of hotel rooms or the subscribers of a cable television service. Clause (2) of the definition of “publicly” is applicable “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.” Editorial Notes 2002— Pub. L. 107–273 substituted “122” for “121” in introductory provisions. 1999— Pub. L. 106–44 substituted “121” for “120” in introductory provisions. 1995—Par. (6). Pub. L. 104–39 added par. (6). 1990— Pub. L. 101–650 substituted “120” for “119” in introductory provisions. Pub. L. 101–318 substituted “119” for “118” in introductory provisions. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries Amendment by Pub. L. 104–39 effective 3 months after Nov. 1, 1995 , see section 6 of Pub. L. 104–39 , set out as a note under section 101 of this title . Amendment by Pub. L. 101–650 applicable to any architectural work created on or after Dec. 1, 1990 , and any architectural work, that, on Dec. 1, 1990 , is unconstructed and embodied in unpublished plans or drawings, except that protection for such architectural work under this title terminates on Dec. 31, 2002 , unless the work is constructed by that date, see section 706 of Pub. L. 101–650 , set out as a note under section 101 of this title . Pub. L. 101–318, § 3(e)(3) , July 3, 1990 , 104 Stat. 289 , provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (d) [amending this section] shall be effective as of November 16, 1988 .” Pub. L. 115–264, title I, § 105 , Oct. 11, 2018 , 132 Stat. 3726 , provided that: “(a) Definition .— In this section, the term ‘performing rights society’ has the meaning given the term in section 101 of title 17 , United States Code. “(b) Notification of Review.— “(1) In general .— The Department of Justice shall provide timely briefings upon request of any Member of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives regarding the status of a review in progress of a consent decree between the United States and a performing rights society. “(2) Confidentiality and deliberative process .— In accordance with applicable rules relating to confidentiality and agency deliberative process, the Department of Justice shall share with such Members of Congress detailed and timely information and pertinent documents related to the consent decree review. “(c) Action Before Motion to Terminate.— “(1) In general .— Before filing with the appropriate district court of the United States a motion to terminate a consent decree between the United States and a performing rights society, including a motion to terminate a consent decree after the passage of a specified period of time, the Department of Justice shall— “(A) notify Members of Congress and committees of Congress described in subsection (b); and “(B) provide to such Members of Congress and committees information regarding the impact of the proposed termination on the market for licensing the public performance of musical works should the motion be granted. “(2) Notification.— “(A) In general .— During the notification described in paragraph (1), and not later than a reasonable time before the date on which the Department of Justice files with the appropriate district court of the United States a motion to terminate a consent decree between the United States and a performing rights society, the Department of Justice should submit to the chairmen and ranking members of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a written notification of the intent of the Department of Justice to file the motion. “(B) Contents .— The notification provided in subparagraph (A) shall include a written report to the chairmen and ranking members of the Committee on the Judiciary of [the] Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives setting forth— “(i) an explanation of the process used by the Department of Justice to review the consent decree; “(ii) a summary of the public comments received by the Department of Justice during the review by the Department; and “(iii) other information provided to Congress under paragraph (1)(B). “(d) Scope .— This section applies only to a consent decree between the United States and a performing rights society.”” Source: 17 U.S.C. § 106; https://www.neochart.com/catalog/federal/title_17/section_106/title17_sec106_7dd8140c6510/106_exclusive_rights_in_copyrighted_works_0001/index.html; data via neochart.com, snapshot 2026-08.
Restored copyrights
The bounded holding pins that the Copyright Clause and First Amendment do not make the public domain categorically a territory works may never exit. Verbatim source text: “In accord with the judgment of the Tenth Circuit, we conclude that § 514 does not transgress constitutional limitations on Congress’ authority. Neither the Copyright and Patent Clause nor the First Amendment, we hold, makes the public domain, in any and all cases, a territory that works may never exit.” Source: Golan v. Holder, 565 U.S. 302, 307 (2012); https://www.neochart.com/catalog/cases/us/volume_565/0302_01/index.html; data via neochart.com, snapshot 2026-08.
First sale abroad
The bounded holding pins that first sale applies to copies lawfully made abroad. Verbatim source text: “In our view, the answers to these questions are, yes. We hold that the “first sale” doctrine applies to copies of a copyrighted work lawfully made abroad.” Source: Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 568 U.S. 519, 525 (2013); https://www.neochart.com/catalog/cases/us/volume_568/0519_01/index.html; data via neochart.com, snapshot 2026-08.
Pin the synthetic asset and data record
A synthetic copyright packet records each work component, author and employer, fixation and version, originality evidence, idea or fact distinction, work-for-hire predicates, assignments, publication and registration, foreign origin and restoration, copy ownership and sale, import and resale, each proposed use, implicated right, license, statutory limitation, protected element, similarity and review.
Work the source-bound application
The manual's prose, illustrations and code expression enter originality and fixation review; API facts and functional methods remain unprotected as such. Each proposed act maps to one of the six rights before a limitation is tested. The purchaser may resell the lawfully made foreign book under Kirtsaeng, but scanning and uploading it implicates reproduction and possibly display or distribution separately. Golan prevents a blanket assumption that every work once public in the United States remains public forever.
Read the populated audit record
The copyright record contains work, component, author, human-authorship issue, employer, contractor, fixation, version, originality, expression, idea, fact, method, compilation, work-for-hire predicate, assignment, publication, registration, source country, restoration, duration branch, copy, ownership, sale, import, resale, use, reproduction, derivative, distribution, performance, display, digital audio transmission, limitation, license, protected element, similarity, territory, and reviewer. The artifact contains 18 populated rows.
Jurisdiction: US; as of 2026-08-28; not legal advice; Render structure, refuse interpretation, cite, abstain, and hand off.
RENDER STRUCTURE · REFUSE INTERPRETATION · CITE · ABSTAIN · HAND-OFF: render structure, refuse interpretation, cite provenance, abstain when unsupported, and hand off to human review.
Read the complete record
The complete record keeps sources, stated facts, and questions for review separate. Pinned authorities: Verbatim statute or bounded case excerpt. 17 U.S.C. § 102: Subject matter and idea/expression: The statute pins fixed original works, categories, and the exclusion of ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods, concepts, principles and discoveries.. 17 U.S.C. § 106: Six exclusive rights: The statute pins reproduction, derivative works, distribution, public performance, public display, and digital-audio-transmission rights subject to statutory limitations.. Golan v. Holder, 565 U.S. 302, 307 (2012): Restored copyrights: The bounded holding pins that the Copyright Clause and First Amendment do not make the public domain categorically a territory works may never exit.. Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 568 U.S. 519, 525 (2013): First sale abroad: The bounded holding pins that first sale applies to copies lawfully made abroad.. Synthetic asset and data record: Classroom facts, not ownership or compliance conclusions. Work: Illustrated software manual has text, screenshots, diagrams, API facts, interface labels, code samples and version metadata fixed in repository. Chain: Employee author, contractor illustrator, employer, assignment, publication, registration, foreign edition, sale, purchaser, import, resale and license notice. Uses: Copying, adaptation, distributing copies, live reading, website display, streaming sound recording, quotation, archival copy and resale. Legal and technical trace: Regime, scope, elements, limits, provenance, safeguards and handoff. Protectability: Human authorship doctrine, minimal originality, fixation, expression, facts, idea-expression, merger, scènes à faire, compilation selection or arrangement and government-work question. Ownership: Author, joint work, work made for hire, employee scope, commissioned category and writing, assignment, exclusive license, termination and recordation. Section One-Zero-Six rights: Reproduce; prepare derivative works; distribute copies or phonorecords; publicly perform; publicly display; digitally perform sound recordings by audio transmission. Limits: Fair use, library, educational, first sale, compulsory license, public domain, license permission and other statutory limitations are right- and fact-specific. Duration and restoration: Creation, publication, author type, death, anonymous or pseudonymous or work-for-hire branch, restoration, source country and exact statutory term. First sale: Ownership of a particular lawfully made copy can exhaust the section One-Zero-Six-three distribution right; it does not authorize reproduction, derivative works, public performance or other rights. Infringement record: Valid ownership issue, protected elements, right implicated, copying or act, access and similarity evidence, license scope, defense, territory and remedy.
Narrow summary
Separate protectable expression from ideas and facts, map conduct to the six rights, calculate duration from exact predicates, and confine first sale to distribution of a particular lawful copy.