Best Edition

of Published Copyrighted Works for the Collections of the Library of Congress

For works published in multiple editions or formats in the United States, you may be required to submit copies of the best edition for registration or mandatory deposit. This circular includes the hierarchy of formats considered the best edition for various types of works.

When you register the copyright in a published work or comply with the mandatory deposit requirement, you must submit copies or phonorecords consistent with Copyright Office regulations. In certain situations, those copies must be the best edition among those available. The law defines best edition as “the edition, published in the United States at any time before the date of deposit, that the Library of Congress determines to be most suitable for its purposes.”¹

The criteria used to identify the best edition are listed in the Best Edition Statement, reproduced at the end of this circular.² It is the responsibility of the copyright owner to identify the best edition that exists at the time of submission. You do not need to make a new edition to meet this requirement.

Identifying the best edition

The best edition is generally the highest quality edition that is published. To determine the best edition, consult the Best Edition Statement below. It lists the criteria to be applied in determining the best edition for various types of works, with the criteria listed in descending order of importance. For example, if both a digital and a physical edition of a work were published before the date of the deposit, the physical edition should be submitted unless special relief from the mandatory deposit requirement has been granted.

NOTE: A new edition of a work need not be created to comply with the best edition requirement. Submit copies of the best edition published in the United States. If there are multiple published editions of a work, but none are listed on the Best Edition Statement, submit copies of the highest-quality published edition. If there are copyrightable differences between editions, then each version constitutes a separate work requiring a separate deposit and application for registration, if applicable.

Example: A book is published simultaneously in hardcover and softcover. There are two editions. According to the Best Edition Statement, the hardcover edition is the best edition of the book. If the book is later republished in hardcover, but with an extended foreword, this constitutes a new version that must be separately deposited and registered.

If you cannot determine which edition is the best edition, contact the Acquisitions & Deposits division at ad@copyright.gov or 202-707-7125 before submitting a deposit.

When the best edition requirement does not apply

The best edition requirement does not apply to all deposits. In particular, it does not apply to unpublished works and works published solely in a foreign country. It does not apply to works published solely in a single edition or format. And it does not apply to works published solely in editions or formats not listed on the Best Edition Statement.

If your work was first published outside the United States, you may submit a copy of the work either as first published or the best edition published in the United States. The best edition requirement does apply to a work simultaneously published within and outside the United States, as it is considered first published in the United States. For more information, see chapter 1500, section 1511.4, of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices.

A work exempt from the best edition requirement is not exempt from deposit requirements.

Under certain circumstances, the Copyright Office may grant a written request for special relief from the best edition requirement. For more information about special relief, see chapter 1500, section 1511.9, of the Compendium.

Best Edition Statement

I Printed Textual Matter

A. Paper, Binding, and Packaging

1. Archival-quality rather than less-permanent paper

2. Hard cover rather than soft cover

3. Library binding rather than commercial binding

4. Trade edition rather than book club edition

5. Sewn rather than glue-only binding

6. Sewn or glued rather than stapled or spiral-bound

7. Stapled rather than spiral-bound or plastic-bound

8. Bound rather than looseleaf, except when future looseleaf insertions are to be issued. In the case of looseleaf materials, this includes the submission of all binders and indexes when they are part of the unit as published and offered for sale or distribution. Additionally, the regular and timely receipt of all appropriate looseleaf updates, supplements, and releases, including supplemental binders issued to handle these expanded versions, is part of the requirement to properly maintain these publications.

9. Slip-cased rather than non-slip-cased

10. With protective folders rather than without (for broadsides)

11. Rolled rather than folded (for broadsides)

12. With protective coatings rather than without (except broadsides, which should not be coated)

B. Rarity

1. Special limited edition having the greatest number of special features

2. Other limited edition rather than trade edition

3. Special binding rather than trade binding

C. Illustrations

1. Illustrated rather than unillustrated

2. Illustrations in color rather than black and white

D. Special Features

1. With thumb notches or index tabs rather than without

2. With aids to use, such as overlays and magnifiers, rather than without

E. Size

1. Larger rather than smaller sizes. (Except that large-type editions for the partially sighted are not required in place of editions employing type of more conventional size.)

II Photographs

A. Size and finish, in descending order of preference

1. The most widely distributed edition

2. 8" by 10" glossy print

3. Other size or finish

B. Unmounted rather than mounted

C. Archival-quality rather than less-permanent paper stock or printing process

III Motion Pictures

Film medium is considered a better quality than any other medium. The formats under “film” and “video formats” are listed in descending order of preference.

A. Film

1. Preprint material by special arrangement

2. 70mm positive print, if original production negative is greater than 35mm

3. 35mm positive prints

4. 16mm positive prints

B. Videotape formats

1. Betacam SP

2. Digital Beta (Digibeta)

3. DVD

4. VHS cassette

IV Other Graphic Matter

1. A. Paper and Printing
2. 1. Archival quality rather than less-permanent paper
3. 1. Color rather than black and white
4. B. Size and Content
5. 1. Larger rather than smaller size
6. 1. In the case of cartographic works, editions with the greatest amount of information rather than those with less detail
7. C. Rarity
8. 1. The most widely distributed edition rather than one of limited distribution
9. 1. In the case of a work published only in a limited, numbered edition, one copy outside the numbered series but otherwise identical
10. 1. A photographic reproduction of the original, by special arrangement only
11. D. Text and Other Materials
12. 1. Works with annotations, accompanying tabular or textual matter, or other interpretative aids rather than those without them
13. E. Binding and Packaging
14. 1. Bound rather than unbound
15. 1. If editions have different binding, apply the criteria in I.A.2–I.A.7, above.
16. 1. Rolled rather than folded
17. 1. With protective coatings rather than without

V Phonorecords

1. A. Compact digital disc rather than vinyl disc
2. B. Vinyl disc rather than tape
3. C. With special enclosures rather than without
4. D. Open-reel rather than cartridge
5. E. Cartridge rather than cassette
6. F. Quadraphonic rather than stereophonic
7. G. True stereophonic rather than monaural
8. H. Monaural rather than electronically rechanneled stereo

VI Musical Compositions

1. A. Fullness of Score
2. 1. Vocal music
   2. a. With orchestral accompaniment —
   3. i. Full score and parts, if any, rather than conductor's score and parts, if any. (In cases of compositions published only by rental, lease, or lending, this requirement is reduced to full score only.)
   4. ii. Conductor's score and parts, if any, rather than condensed score and parts, if any. (In cases of compositions published only by rental, lease, or lending, this requirement is reduced to conductor's score only.)
   5. b. Unaccompanied: Open score (each part on separate staff) rather than closed score (all parts condensed to two staves)
3. 1. Instrumental music
   2. a. Full score and parts, if any, rather than conductor's score and parts, if any. (In cases of compositions published only by rental, lease, or lending, this requirement is reduced to full score only.)
   3. b. Conductor's score and parts, if any, rather than condensed score and parts, if any. (In cases of compositions published only by rental, lease, or lending, this requirement is reduced to conductor's score only.)
4. B. Printing and Paper
5. 1. Archival-quality rather than less-permanent paper
6. C. Binding and Packaging
7. 1. Special limited editions rather than trade editions
8. 1. Bound rather than unbound
9. 1. If editions have different binding, apply the criteria in I.A.2–I.A.12, above.
10. 1. With protective folders rather than without

VII Microforms

A. Related Materials

1. With indexes, study guides, or other printed matter rather than without

B. Permanence and Appearance

1. Silver halide rather than any other emulsion

2. Positive rather than negative

3. Color rather than black and white

C. Format (newspapers and newspaper-formatted serials)

1. Reel microfilm rather than any other microform

D. Format (all other materials)

1. Microfiche rather than reel microfilm

2. Reel microfilm rather than microform cassettes

3. Microfilm cassettes rather than micro-opaque prints

E. Size

1. 35mm rather than 16mm

VIII Machine-Readable Copies

A. Computer Programs

1. With documents and other accompanying material rather than without

2. Not copy-protected rather than copy-protected (if copy-protected, then with a backup copy of the disk(s))

3. Format

a. PC-DOS or MS-DOS (or other IBM-compatible formats, such as XENIX)

i. 5¼" diskette(s)

ii. 3½" diskette(s)

iii. Optical media, such as CD-ROM—best edition should adhere to prevailing NISO standards.

b. Apple Macintosh

i. 3½" diskette(s)

ii. Optical media such as CD-ROM—best edition should adhere to prevailing NISO standards.

B. Computerized Information Works, Including Statistical Compendia, Serials, or Reference Works

1. With documentation and other accompanying material rather than without

2. With best edition of accompanying program rather than without

3. Not copy-protected rather than copy-protected (if copy-protected, then with a backup copy of the disk(s))

4. Format

a. PC-DOS or MS-DOS (or other IBM-compatible formats, such as XENIX)

i. Optical media, such as CD-ROM—best edition should adhere to prevailing NISO standards.

ii. 5¼" diskette(s)

iii. 3½" diskette(s)

b. Apple Macintosh

i. Optical media, such as CD-ROM—best edition should adhere to prevailing NISO standards.

ii. 3½" diskette(s)

NOTE: The best-edition requirement for machine-readable copies applies only to copies submitted to the Library of Congress under section 407 of the copyright law, which addresses mandatory deposit. It does not apply to deposits submitted for registration of claims to copyright.

IX Electronic-Only Works Published in the United States and Available Only Online

The following encodings are listed in descending order of preference for all deposits in all categories below:

1. UTF-8.

2. UTF-16 (with BOM).

3. US-ASCII.

4. ISO 8859.

5. All other character encodings.

A. Electronic-Only Serials:

1. Content Format:

a. Serials-specific structured/markup format:

i. Content compliant with the NLM Journal Archiving (XML) Document Type Definition (DTD), with presentation stylesheet(s), rather than without NISO JATS: Journal Article Tag Suite (NISO Z39.96-201x) with XSD/XSL presentation stylesheet(s) and explicitly stated character encoding.

ii. Other widely used serials or journal XML DTDs/schemas, with presentation stylesheet(s), rather than without.

iii. Proprietary XML format for serials or journals (with documentation), with DTD/schema and presentation stylesheet(s), rather than without.

b. Page-oriented rendition:

i. PDF/UA (Portable Document Format/Universal Accessibility; compliant with ISO 14289-1).

ii. PDF/A (Portable Document Format/Archival; compliant with ISO 19005).

iii. PDF (Portable Document Format, with searchable text, rather than without; highest quality available, with features such as searchable text, embedded fonts, lossless compression, high resolution images, device-independent specification of colorspace; content tagging; includes document formats such as PDF/X).

c. Other structured or markup formats:

i. Widely-used serials or journal non-proprietary XML-based DTDs/schemas with presentation stylesheet(s).

ii. Proprietary XML-based format for serials or journals (with documentation) with DTD/schema and presentation stylesheet(s).

iii. XHTML or HTML, with DOCTYPE declaration and presentation stylesheet(s).

iv. XML-based document formats (widely used and publicly documented). With presentation stylesheets, if applicable. Includes ODF (ISO/IEC 26300) and OOXML (ISO/IEC 29500).

d. PDF (web-optimized with searchable text).

e. Other formats:

i. Rich text format.

ii. Plain text.

iii. Widely-used proprietary word processing or page-layout formats.

iv. Other text formats not listed here.

2. Metadata Elements: If included with published version of work, descriptive data (metadata) as described below should accompany the deposited material:

a. Title level metadata: serial or journal title, ISSN, publisher, frequency, place of publication.

b. Article level metadata, as relevant/or applicable: volume(s), number(s), issue dates(s), article title(s), article author(s), article identifier (DOI, etc.).

c. With other descriptive metadata (e.g., subject heading(s), descriptor(s), abstract(s)), rather than without.

3. Completeness:

a. All elements considered integral to the publication and offered for sale or distribution must be deposited—e.g., articles, table(s) of contents, front matter, back matter, etc. Includes all associated external files and fonts considered integral to or necessary to view the work as published.

b. All updates, supplements, releases, and supersessions published as part of the work and offered for sale or distribution must be deposited and received in a regular and timely manner for proper maintenance of the deposit.

4. Technological measures that control access to or use of the work should be removed.

B. Electronic-Only Books:

1. Content Format:

a. Book-specific structured/markup format,

i.e., XML-based markup formats, with

included or accessible DTD/schema,

XSD/XSL presentation stylesheet(s), and

explicitly stated character encoding:

i. BITS-compliant (NLM Book DTD).

ii. EPUB-compliant.

iii. Other widely-used book DTD/

schemas (e.g., TEI, DocBook, etc.).

b. Page-oriented rendition:

i. PDF/UA (Portable Document

Format/Universal Accessibility;

compliant with ISO 14289-1).

ii. PDF/A (Portable Document Format/

Archival; compliant with ISO 19005).

iii. PDF (Portable Document Format;

highest quality available, with

features such as searchable text,

embedded fonts, lossless compression,

high resolution images, device-

independent specification of

colorspace; content tagging; includes

document formats such as PDF/X).

c. Other structured markup formats:

i. XHTML or HTML, with DOCTYPE

declaration and presentation

stylesheet(s).

ii. XML-based document formats

(widely-used and publicly-

documented), with presentation style

sheet(s) if applicable. Includes ODF

(ISO/IEC 26300) and OOXML (ISO/

IEC 29500).

iii. SGML, with included or accessible

DTD.

iv. Other XML-based non-proprietary

formats, with presentation

stylesheet(s).

v. XML-based formats that use

proprietary DTDs or schemas, with

presentation stylesheet(s).

d. PDF (web-optimized with searchable text).

e. Other formats:

i. Rich text format.

ii. Plain text.

iii. Widely-used proprietary word

processing or page-layout formats.

iv. Other text formats not listed here.

2. Metadata Elements: If included with

published version of work, descriptive

data (metadata) as described below should

accompany the deposited material:

a. As supported by format (e.g., standards-

based formats such as ONIX, XMP,

MODS, or MARCXML either embedded

in or accompanying the digital item):

title, creator, creation date, place of

publication, publisher/producer/

distributor, ISBN, contact information.

b. Include if part of published version of

work: language of work, other relevant

identifiers (e.g., DOI, LCCN, etc.),

edition, subject descriptors, abstracts.

3. Rarity and Special Features:

a. Limited editions (including those with

special features such as high resolution

images.)

b. Editions with the greatest number of

unique features (such as additional

content, multimedia, interactive

elements.)

4. Completeness:

a. For items published in a finite number

of separate components, all elements

published as part of the work and

offered for sale or distribution must

be deposited. Includes all associated

external files and fonts considered

integral to or necessary to view the work

as published.

b. All updates, supplements, releases, and

supersessions published as part of the

work and offered for sale or distribution

must be submitted and received in a

regular and timely manner for proper

maintenance of the deposit.

5. Technological Protection Measures:

a. Copies published in formats that do not contain technological measures controlling access to or use of the work.

b. Copies published with technological measures that control access to or use of the work, and for which the owner has elected to remove such technological measures.

c. Copies otherwise provided in a manner that meets the requirements of §202.24(a)(5).

X Works Existing in More Than One Medium

Editions are listed below in descending order of preference.

A. Newspapers, dissertations and theses, newspaper-formatted serials

1. Microform

2. Printed matter

B. All other materials

1. Printed matter

2. Microform

3. Phonorecord

NOTES

1. This circular is intended as an overview of the best edition requirement. The authoritative source for U.S. copyright law is Title 17 of the United States Code, which includes the Copyright Act of 1976 and all subsequent amendments to copyright law. Copyright Office regulations are codified in Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Copyright Office practices and procedures are summarized in the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Third Edition. The copyright law, regulations, and the Compendium are available on the Copyright Office website at copyright.gov.

2. The Best Edition Statement is codified in Appendix B to Part 202 of the Copyright Office's regulations.

For further information

By internet

The copyright law, the Compendium, electronic registration, application forms, regulations, and related materials are available on the Copyright Office website at copyright.gov.

By email

To send an email inquiry, Contact Us on the Copyright Office website.

By telephone

For general information, call the Copyright Public Information Office at 202-707-3000 or 877-476-0778 (toll-free). Staff members are on duty from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., eastern time, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.

By regular mail

Write to

Library of Congress

U.S. Copyright Office

Public Information Division

101 Independence Avenue SE #6303

Washington, DC 20559-6303

U.S. Copyright Office · Library of Congress · 101 Independence Avenue SE · Washington, DC 20559 · copyright.gov