A general name given to every literary composition which is printed; but appropriately to a printed composition bound in a volume. 2. The copyright, or exclusive right to print and publish a book, may be secured to the author and his assigns for the term of twenty-eight years; and, if the author be living, and a citizen of the United States, or resident therein, the same right shall be continued to him for the further term of fourteen years, by complying with the conditions of the act of Congress; one of which is, that he shall, within three months after publication, deliver, or cause to be delivered, a copy of the same to the clerk of the said district.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
1. A general designation applied to any literary composition which is printed, but appropriately to a printed composition bound in a volume. Scoville v. Toland, 21 Fed. Cas. 864. 2. A bound volume consisting of sheets of paper, not printed, but containing manuscript entries; such as a merchant’s account books, dockets of courts, etc. 3. A name often given to the largest subdivisions of a treatise or other literary composition. 4. In practice, the name of “book” Is given to several of the more important papers prepared in the progress of a cause, though entirely written, and not at all in the book form; such as demurrer books, error books, paper books, etc. In copyright law, the meaning of the term is more extensive than in popular usage, for it may include a pamphlet a magazine, a collection of blank forms, or a single sheet of music or of ordinary printing. U. S. v. Bennett 24 Fed. Cas. 1,093; Stowe v. Thomas, 23 Fed. Cas. 207; White v. Geroch, 2 Barn. & Aid. 301; Brightiey v. Littleton (C. G) 37 Fed. 104; Holmes v. Hurst 174 U. S. 82, 19 Sup. Ct 606, 43 L. Ed. 904; Clement! v. Goulding, 11 East, 244; Clayton v. Stone, 5 Fed. Cas. 999. Book account. A detailed statement, kept in writing in a book, in the nature of debits and credits between persons, arising out of contract or some fiduciary relation; an account or record of debit and credit kept in a book. Taylor v. Horst, 52 Minn. 300, 54 N. W. 734; Stieglitz v. Mercantile Co., 76 Mo. App. 280; Kennedy v. Ankrim, Tapp. (Ohio) 40. Book debt. In Pennsylvania practice. The act of 28th March, 1895.