Public display

The public display right is extremely significant in the context of the Internet. To display a work means to "show a copy of it, either directly or by means of a . . . television image, or any other device or process . . . ." The complex analyses to determine whether a particular transmission might amount to a "distribution" or a "performance" are rarely necessary in this context. The definition of "[display]]" clearly encompasses, for instance, the actions of the defendant BBS operator in the Playboy v. Frena case. Thus, when an Internet user visually "browses" through copies of works in any medium (but not through a list of titles or other "menus" that are not copies of the works), a public display of at least a portion of the browsed work occurs. A display is "public" on the same terms as a performance is "public"; therefore, many online uses would appear to fall within the law's current comprehension of "public display." Whether such acts would be an infringement would be determined by separate infringement analyses.