• Before the Copyright Act of 1976, a general publication was generally held to divest common-law rights in a work. Rather, the author was deemed to have dedicated the work to the public. Cf. limited publication. [Cases: Copyrights and Intellectual Property 31. C.J.S. Copyrights and Intellectual Property §§ 32, 37.]
general publication
Distribution of an author’s work to the public, as opposed to a selected group, whether or not restrictions are placed on the use of the work.