 thumb|220px|printing to publish is to make content available to the general public.berne convention, article 3(3). url last accessed 2010-05-10.universal copyright convention, gevena text (1952), article vi. url last accessed 2010-05-10. while specific use of the term may vary among countries, it is usually applied to text, images, or other audio-visual content on any traditional medium, including paper (newspapers, magazines, catalogs, etc.). the word publication means the act of publishing, and also refers to any printed copies. ==legal definition and copyright== "publication" is a technical term in legal contexts and especially important in copyright legislation. an author of a work generally is the initial owner of the copyright on the work. one of the copyrights granted to the author of a work is the exclusive right to publish the work. in the united states, publication is defined as: :the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. the offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display, constitutes publication. a public performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute publication. :to perform or display a work "publicly" means &ndash; ::(1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered; or ::(2) to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work to a place specified by clause (1) or to the public, by means of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same time or at different times. :&mdash;17 usc 101 furthermore, the right to publish a work is an exclusive right of the copyright owner (17 usc 106), and violating this right (e.g. by disseminating copies of the work without the copyright owner's consent) is a copyright infringement (17 usc 501(a)), and the copyright owner can demand (by suing in court) that e.g. copies distributed against his will be confiscated and destroyed (
Publications