Original Work
According to the Copyright Law, a work is what is created in the realm of literature, science, art or other academic fields. It must be therefore a product of mental and intellectual activities on the creator’s own behalf. A work that satisfies such prerequisite can be then subject to the protection of the Copyright Law. The term “original work” is opposite to the concept of “derivative work” (please refer to “Derivative Work” for detailed discussion). The term stresses that the work itself is not derived from other people’s works. In terms of computer programming, so long as a programming work does not make use of other people’s program code, such work is said to be an original work. According to this definition, not only independently developed program is original work, the patch that results from the modification of a third person’s program is also an original work. This is because the patch does not include any expression of the source code of the original program and therefore fits the definition of an original work. The patch is also subject to the protection of the Copyright Law. It can be distributed independently without the concept of the copyright holder of the program the patch is designed to modify.