- publication
- To make public; to make known to people in general; to bring before public; to exhibit, display, disclose or reveal. Tiffany Productions v. Dewing, D.C. Md., 50 F.2d 911, 914. The act of publishing anything; offering it to public notice, or rendering it accessible to public scrutiny. An advising of the public; a making known of something to them for a purpose. It implies the means of conveying knowledge or notice.See also notice- publish.Term "publication" is both a business term meaning printing and distribution of written materials and a legal term meaning communication of libelous matter to a third person. Applewhite v. Memphis State University, Tenn., 495 S.W.2d 190, 192.See also law of libel, below; and libel- utter.As descriptive of the publishing of laws and ordinances, it means printing or otherwise reproducing copies of them and distributing them in such a manner as to make their contents easily accessible to the public.Copyright law.The act of making public a book, writing, chart, map, etc.; that is, offering or communicating it to the public by the sale or distribution of copies. Publication, as used in connection with common-law copyrights, is employed to denote those acts of an author or creator which evidence a dedication of his work to public and on which depends the loss of his common-law copyright. Vic Alexander & Associates v. Cheyenne Neon Sign Co., Wyo., 417 P.2d 921, 923.See also common-law copyright.As defined in Copyright Act, "publication" is 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. 17 U.S.C.A. No. 101. Law of libel. The act of making the defamatory matter known publicly, of disseminating it, or communicating it to one or more persons (i.e. to third person or persons). The reduction of libelous matter to writing and its delivery to any one other than the person injuriously affected thereby. Great Atlantic & Pac. Tea Co. v. Paul, 256 Md. 643, 261 A.2d 731, 734, 735.To communicate defamatory words orally or in writing or in print to some third person capable of understanding their defamatory import and in such a way that he did so understand; publication is an essential element of a libel action and, without publication, there is no libel. Houston Belt & Terminal Ry. Co. v. Wherry, Tex.Civ.App., 548 S.W.2d 743, 751.See also libelLaw of wills.The formal declaration made by a testator at the time of signing his will that it is his last will and testament. The act or acts of the testator by which he manifests that it is his intention to give effect to the paper as his last will and testament; any communication indicating to the witness that the testator intends to give effect to the paper as his will, by words, sign, motion, or conduct.Service of process.Under Rules of Civil Procedure, publication of a summons is the process of giving it currency as an advertisement in a newspaper, under the conditions prescribed by law, as a means of giving notice of the suit to a defendant upon whom personal service cannot be made.See e.g. New York CPLR No. 315.See also service (service by publication)
Black's law dictionary. HENRY CAMPBELL BLACK, M. A.. 1990.
