§ 103. — Subject matter of copyright: Compilations and derivative works.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 17USC103]
TITLE 17--COPYRIGHTS
CHAPTER 1--SUBJECT MATTER AND SCOPE OF COPYRIGHT
Sec. 103. Subject matter of copyright: Compilations and
derivative works
(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.
(Pub. L. 94-553, title I, Sec. 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2545.)
Historical and Revision Notes
house report no. 94-1476
Section 103 complements section 102: A compilation or derivative
work is copyrightable if it represents an ``original work of
authorship'' and falls within one or more of the categories listed in
section 102. Read together, the two sections make plain that the
criteria of copyrightable subject matter stated in section 102 apply
with full force to works that are entirely original and to those
containing preexisting material. Section 103(b) is also intended to
define, more sharply and clearly than does section 7 of the present law
[section 7 of former title 17], the important interrelationship and
correlation between protection of preexisting and of ``new'' material in
a particular work. The most important point here is one that is commonly
misunderstood today: copyright in a ``new version'' covers only the
material added by the later author, and has no effect one way or the
other on the copyright or public domain status of the preexisting
material.
Between them the terms ``compilations'' and ``derivative works''
which are defined in section 101 comprehend every copyrightable work
that employs preexisting material or data of any kind. There is
necessarily some overlapping between the two, but they basically
represent different concepts. A ``compilation'' results from a process
of selecting, bringing together, organizing, and arranging previously
existing material of all kinds, regardless of whether the individual
items in the material have been or ever could have been subject to
copyright. A ``derivative work,'' on the other hand, requires a process
of recasting, transforming, or adapting ``one or more preexisting
works''; the ``preexisting work'' must come within the general subject
matter of copyright set forth in section 102, regardless of whether it
is or was ever copyrighted.
The second part of the sentence that makes up section 103(a) deals
with the status of a compilation or derivative work unlawfully employing
preexisting copyrighted material. In providing that protection does not
extend to ``any part of the work in which such material has been used
unlawfully,'' the bill prevents an infringer from benefiting, through
copyright protection, from committing an unlawful act, but preserves
protection for those parts of the work that do not employ the
preexisting work. Thus, an unauthorized translation of a novel could not
be copyrighted at all, but the owner of copyright in an anthology of
poetry could sue someone who infringed the whole anthology, even though
the infringer proves that publication of one of the poems was
unauthorized. Under this provision, copyright could be obtained as long
as the use of the preexisting work was not ``unlawful,'' even though the
consent of the copyright owner had not been obtained. For instance, the
unauthorized reproduction of a work might be ``lawful'' under the
doctrine of fair use or an applicable foreign law, and if so the work
incorporating it could be copyrighted.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 104, 301 of this title;
title 19 section 2242.
