limited publication

Distribution of copies of an author’s work to a selected group for a limited purpose and with no permission to copy the work, at a time when copies are not available to the general public.

• Before the Copyright Act of 1976 made publication irrelevant, courts distinguished between limited publication and general publication to decide whether federal copyright laws applied. Under that Act, a work published before January 1, 1978 without proper copyright notice entered the public domain unless the publication was limited.

— Also termed private publication. Cf. general publication. [Cases: Copyrights and Intellectual Property 31. C.J.S. Copyrights and Intellectual Property §§ 32, 37.]

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词条贡献者

译员Matthew，毕业于英国顶尖的高级翻译学院，专注翻译各种与争议解决有关的法律文件。