Who is an author? Under the copyright law, the creator of the
original expression in a work is its author. The author is also
the owner of copyright unless there is a written agreement by
which the author assigns the copyright to another person or
entity, such as a publisher. In cases of works made for hire,
the employer or commissioning party is considered to be the
author. See Circular 9, Work-Made-For-Hire Under the 1976
Copyright Act. What is a deposit? A deposit is usually one copy
(if unpublished) or two copies (if published) of the work to be
registered for copyright. In certain cases such as works of the
visual arts, identifying material such as a photograph may be
used instead. See Circular 40a, Deposit Requirements for
Registration of Claims to Copyright in Visual Arts Material. The
deposit is sent with the application and fee and becomes the
property of the Library What is publication? Publication has a
technical meaning in copyright law. According to the statute,
“Publication is the distribution o