Also known as: motion picture · motion pictures · audiovisual work · audiovisual works · films · movies
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An enumerated category of copyrightable subject matter consisting of works that present a series of related images intended to be shown by the use of machines or devices together with accompanying sounds if any.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A studio releases a feature film to theaters nationwide on the same date. A viewer in one city claims defamation from a scene and sues again after a second city screening. The court treats the nationwide exhibition as one publication and limits the studio to a single damages action.
A consumer records a copyrighted motion picture from television onto videotape for later personal viewing. The studios sue the recorder manufacturer claiming contributory infringement. The court holds that private time-shifting constitutes fair use and does not enlarge the studios' statutory monopolies.
A rap group records a parody version of a copyrighted song written for a motion picture. The original copyright owner sues for infringement. The court finds the parody transformative and weighs the fair-use factors in the group's favor.
A company distributes software that enables users to locate and download copies of copyrighted motion pictures. Studios sue for secondary liability. The court holds that evidence of intent to induce infringement supports liability even without direct proof of infringement by users.
A network broadcasts edited versions of comedy sketches originally created for motion pictures. The creators sue for distortion of their work. The court recognizes an implied contractual obligation against material alteration and awards relief.
A student imports textbooks containing motion-picture stills that were lawfully made and sold abroad. The publisher sues for infringement. The court holds that the first-sale doctrine permits resale of those copies in the United States without geographic restriction.
Yes. The rule treats any one exhibition of a motion picture as a single aggregate communication. A plaintiff may therefore bring only one defamation action arising from that exhibition regardless of how many times or in how many places it is shown.
Yes. The statutory category covers works consisting of a series of related images shown by machine, whether or not sound accompanies them.
…"not. . . all copyrights are fungible" and that "[c]opying a news broadcast may have a stronger claim to fair use than copying a motion picture." 464 U. S., at 455, n. 40. These statements reflect the principle, suggested in § 107(2) of the Act, that the scope of fair use is generally broader when the source of borrowed expression…
…action, Universal City Studios, Inc., and Walt Disney Productions, produce and hold the copyrights on a substantial number of motion pictures and other audiovisual works
…U. S., at 563-564 (contrasting soon-to-be-published memoir with published speech); Sony , 464 U. S., at 455, n. 40 (contrasting motion pictures
…lower courts might interpret §602(a)(3)(C) as authorizing only the importing, but not the lending, of foreign-made copies of non-
…general public."); Patterson v. Century Prods., Inc. , 93 F.2d 489, 492-93 (2d Cir.1937) (no divestive general publication of motion picture
No. Time-shifting for personal viewing is fair use and does not enlarge the copyright owner's statutory monopoly over the work.
Yes. When the parody is transformative and the fair-use factors weigh in its favor, copying portions of the original song does not constitute infringement.
Yes. Clear evidence that the distributor intended to induce infringement supports liability even without direct proof that any particular user infringed.
No. The first-sale doctrine permits the owner of a particular copy lawfully made under title 17 to sell or otherwise dispose of that copy without geographic restriction.