Circular 7B: Best Edition of Published Copyrighted Works for the Collections of the Library of Congress

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# 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.

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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.

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## 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"by10" 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

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### IV Other Graphic Matter

#### A. Paper and Printing

1\. Archival quality rather than less-permanent
paper

2\. Color rather than black and white

B. Size and Content

1\. Larger rather than smaller size

2\. In the case of cartographic works, editions
with the greatest amount of information
rather than those with less detail

### C. Rarity

1\. The most widely distributed edition rather
than one of limited distribution

2\. In the case of a work published only in a
limited, numbered edition, one copy outside
the numbered series but otherwise identical

3\. A photographic reproduction of the original,
by special arrangement only

### D. Text and Other Materials

1\. Works with annotations, accompanying
tabular or textual matter, or other
interpretative aids rather than those without
them

#### E. Binding and Packaging

1\. Bound rather than unbound

2\. If editions have different binding, apply the
criteria in I.A.2-I.A.7, above.

3\. Rolled rather than folded

4\. With protective coatings rather than without

### V Phonorecords

A. Compact digital disc rather than vinyl disc

B. Vinyl disc rather than tape

C. With special enclosures rather than without

D. Open-reel rather than cartridge

E. Cartridge rather than cassette

F. Quadraphonic rather than stereophonic

G. True stereophonic rather than monaural

H. Monaural rather than electronically
rechanneled stereo

## VI Musical Compositions

### A. Fullness of Score

### 1. Vocal music

a. With orchestral accompaniment-

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.)

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.)

b. Unaccompanied: Open score (each part
on separate staff) rather than closed
score (all parts condensed to two staves)

### 2. Instrumental music

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.)

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.)

### B. Printing and Paper

1\. Archival-quality rather than less-permanent
paper

C. Binding and Packaging

1\. Special limited editions rather than trade
editions

2\. Bound rather than unbound

3\. If editions have different binding, apply the
criteria in I.A.2-I.A.12, above.

4\. With protective folders rather than without

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## 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. 51/4" diskette(s)

ii. 31/2" diskette(s)

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

b. Apple Macintosh

i. 31/2" 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. 51/4" diskette(s)

iii. 31/2" diskette(s)

b. Apple Macintosh

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

ii. 31/2" 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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

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# 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

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