Collective Work Definition

Under copyright law, a work, such as a periodical, anthology, or encyclopedia, in which a number of separate and independent works are assembled into one work. To create a collective work, permission must be obtained from the copyright owners of the separate parts (assuming such parts are not already in the public domain). Although the author of the collective compilation may not own the copyright to any of the individual parts, the creativity involved in selecting and organizing the constituent materials is often protected by copyright. (See also: compilation)