Glossary

Elizabeth Shieldkret
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Glossary

Chambers: A judge's office.

Case Law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.

Charge to the Jury: The judge's instructions to the jury concerning the law that applies to the facts of the case on trial.

Circumstantial Evidence: All evidence except eyewitness testimony.

Collective Work: (As defined by the Copyright Statute) A "collective work" is a work, such as a periodical issue, anthology, or encyclopedia, in which a number of contributions, constituting separate and independent works in themselves, are assembled into a collective whole. 17 U.S.C. § 101.

Common Law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.

Compilation: (As defined by the Copyright Statute) A "compilation" is a work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship. The term "compilation" includes collective works. 17 U.S.C. § 101.

Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.

Computer Program: (As defined by the Copyright Statute) A "computer program" is a set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result. 17 U.S.C. § 101.

Contract: An agreement between two or more persons that creates an obligation to do or not to do a particular thing.

Copies: (As defined by the Copyright Statute) "Copies" are material objects, other than phonorecords, in which a work is fixed by any method now known or later developed, and from which the work can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. The term "copies" includes the material object, other than a phonorecord, in which the work is first fixed. 17 U.S.C. § 101.

Copyright Owner: (As defined by the Copyright Statute) "Copyright owner", with respect to any one of the exclusive rights comprised in a copyright, refers to the owner of that particular right. 17 U.S.C. § 101.

Counsel: Legal advice; a term used to refer to lawyers in a case.

Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.

Court: Government entity authorized to resolve legal disputes. Judges sometimes use "court" to refer to themselves in the third person, as in "the court has read the briefs."

Court Reporter:: A person who makes a word-for-word record of what is said in court and produces a transcript of the proceedings upon request.

Created: (As defined by the Copyright Statute) A work is "created" when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time; where a work is prepared over a period of time, the portion of it that has been fixed at any particular time constitutes the work as of that time, and where the work has been prepared in different versions, each version constitutes a separate work. 17 U.S.C. § 101.

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