1) About the second definition: $\alpha$) It is not true that for an arbitrary ring a) is equivalent to c): Indeed Bourbaki in *Algèbre commutative, Chapitre II, Exercices §5, 12) c)* exhibits a ring $B$ and a projective module of rank $1$ over $B$ which is not isomorphic to an invertible fractional ideal of $B$. This does not contradict Eisenbud's Theorem 11.6 because $R$ is explicitly supposed noetherian there. $\beta$) It is also not true that b) is equivalent to c): Take $R=\mathbb Z$ and $\mathbb Z\subsetneq M=\bigcup \frac {1}{p_1\cdots p_i}\mathbb Z\subsetneq \mathbb Q$ where $p_i$ is the $i$-th prime. Then for all prime $\mathfrak p\subset \mathbb Z$ the $\mathbb Z_\mathfrak p$-module $M_\frak p$ is free of rank $1$, since $$M_{(0)}=\mathbb Z_{(0)}(=\mathbb Q) \quad \operatorname {and}\quad M_{(p_i)}=\frac {1}{p_i}\mathbb Z_{(p_i)}$$ However the $\mathbb Z$-module $M$ is neither finitely generated nor projective (over $\mathbb Z$, projective=free) 2) I think the only reasonable definition of $\operatorname {Pic(R)}$ valid for any commutative ring is to define it as the Picard group of the affine scheme $X=\operatorname {Spec}(R)$. As is the case for any locally ringed space $(X,\mathcal O_X)$ the Picard group consists of isomorphism classes of locally free $\mathcal O_X$-Modules of rank one. This is exactly the definition used with much success for general, non-affine, schemes but also for topological spaces, differential manifolds, etc. 3) In our special case $X=\operatorname {Spec}(R)$ the definition in 2) translates in purely algebraic terms to: $\operatorname {Pic(R)}$ consists of isomorphism classes of $R$-modules $M$ such that there exist finitely many elements $r_1,\cdots,r_n\in R$ with: $\alpha$) $\sum Rr_i=R$ $\beta$) $M_{f_i}$ is a free $R_{f_i}$-modules of rank $1$ for all $i$. (Remark: $\beta$) implies that $M$ is finitely generated over $R$) 4) The modules $M$ in 3) can also be characterized as the **finitely generated** modules over $R$ such that equivalently: i) $M$ is projective of rank $1$ ii) The modules $M_\frak m$ are free of rank $1$ over $R_\frak m$ for all maximal ideals $\mathfrak m\subset R$ iii) The canonical $R$-linear map $M\otimes_RM^*\to R:m\otimes \phi\mapsto\phi(m)$ is bijective Note that these are pleasant algebraic characterizations of the modules generating $\operatorname {Pic(R)}$, but the better, conceptual definition is that given in 2) and 3). **Caveat:** As shown in 1) above, the hypothesis that $M$ is finitely generated is vital.