Word.ws English Dictionary

derivative work

derivative work noun: in copyright law, a work that is a variation of an original work sufficiently similar to contain protected elements of the original work, but sufficiently different to qualify for copyright protection independent of the original work.

Noun

derivative work (plural derivative works)

  1. In copyright law, a work that is a variation of an original work sufficiently similar to contain protected elements of the original work, but sufficiently different to qualify for copyright protection independent of the original work.

Forms of derivative work

pluralderivative works

Questions about derivative work

What does derivative work mean?
Derivative work means in copyright law, a work that is a variation of an original work sufficiently similar to contain protected elements of the original work, but sufficiently different to qualify for copyright protection independent of the original work.
What part of speech is derivative work?
Derivative work is a noun.
What is the plural of derivative work?
The plural of derivative work is derivative works.

Words near derivative work in the dictionary

  1. derivative
  2. derivative 22 syndrome
  3. derivative hybrid
  4. derivative instrument
  5. derivative instruments
  6. derivative work
  7. derivative works
  8. derivatively
  9. derivativeness
  10. derivatives
  11. derivatives market

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: derivative work (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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