literary works
Under the Copyright Act, "literary works" are "works, other than audiovisual works, expressed in words, numbers, or other verbal or numerical symbols or indicia, regardless of the nature of the material objects, such as books, periodicals, manuscripts, phonorecords, film, tapes, disks, or cards, in which they are embodied." See 17 U.S.C. §101.
Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary
One of the broad categories of material protected under the copyright laws. Literary works are expressed in words, numbers, or other verbal or numerical symbols or indicia. Under this broad definition, software -- because it is expressed in programming code in numbers and letters -- is considered a copyrightable literary work.
Definition provided by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary.
August 19, 2010, 5:19 pm
