Is online content considered to be &quot;published&quot; to the whole world?
<p>Suppose, as a resident of your own country, you put some content online. Given that everyone online in the world can, potentially, view it, does that mean that you have, from a legal point of view, &quot;published&quot; it in every country of the world -- and are thus subject to the particular copyright laws of every country in the world?</p>

<p>Yes, except for the part where you say &quot;thus&quot;. Copyright protection isn't limited to published works, though in the past this was the case with US law. Current US law <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/101" rel="nofollow noreferrer">defines publication</a> as</p>
<blockquote>
<p>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.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Web distribution is one way to distribute a protected work. The distinction between published and unpublished works matters in terms of registration requirements, it figures into the question of the nationality of the author, the duration of protection for a work for hire and (pseudo)anonymous works, as well as the duration of protection for works created before January 1, 1978  but first published between then and January 1, 2003, and so on. The US Copyright office provides guidance that derives from court cases, and they have <a href="https://www.copyright.gov/comp3/chap1900/ch1900-publication.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a> to say about published vs. unpublished. They give as an example of publication (&quot;Offering to Distribute Copies or Phonorecords to a Group of Persons&quot;)</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Publication occurs when copies of a photograph are offered to clients,
including but not limited to newspapers, magazines, agencies, wire
services, and websites with a license permitting further distribution
or display of the photograph.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>also</p>
<blockquote>
<p>An offer by the copyright owner on a public website to purchase and
download an app that they developed and made accessible on that
website constitutes publication of that app.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://wipolex-res.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/de/de236en.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">German copyright law</a> makes mention of &quot;publication&quot; as well, for instance</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The right of publication and of exploitation of the work accrues
jointly to the joint authors; alterations to the work shall be
permissible only with the consent of the joint authors. However, a
joint author may not refuse his consent to publication, exploitation
or alteration contrary to the principles of good faith. Each joint
author shall be entitled to assert claims arising from violations of
the joint copyright; he may, however, demand performance only to all
of the joint authors.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>§6 says that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(1) A work shall be deemed to have been published when it has been
made available to the public with the consent of the rightholder. (2)
A work shall be deemed to have been released when copies of the work
have been offered, with the rightholder’s consent, to the public or
brought to the market after their production in sufficient quantity.
An artistic work shall also be deemed to have been released when the
original or a copy of the work has been made permanently available to
the public with the consent of the rightholder.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One would have to inquire into the specifics of German law to know if &quot;putting one copy on a website&quot; constitutes being brought to the market after production in sufficient quantity.</p>

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