Original

The concept of “original” indicates the first known manifestation of the Work, which is not determined by its release status. The concept of “original” must be flexible enough to be applied to released and unreleased Works. For a released Work, we tend to refer to the “original” Work as the first known release of the first known manifestation. For Works that are not released (e.g., a home movie), the “original” Work is simply the first known manifestation. (FIAF 0.2)

For unpublished recordings it will usually make sense to regard the earliest generation copy you possess as the “original,” even if you know that an earlier generation version may exist outside of your collection. (UOSH BL_01-21 Handout 4)