(a) General Provisions. — Whenever
a work protected under this title is published in the United States or elsewhere
by authority of the copyright owner, a notice of copyright as provided by
this section may be placed on publicly distributed copies from which the work
can be visually perceived, either directly or with the aid of a machine or
device.
(b) Form of Notice. — If a
notice appears on the copies, it shall consist of the following three elements:
(2) the year of first publication of the work; in the case
of compilations or derivative works incorporating previously published material,
the year date of first publication of the compilation or derivative work is
sufficient. The year date may be omitted where a pictorial, graphic, or
sculptural work, with accompanying text matter, if any, is reproduced in or on
greeting cards, postcards, stationery, jewelry, dolls, toys, or any useful
articles; and
(3) the name of the owner of copyright in the work, or an
abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known
alternative designation of the owner.
(c) Position of Notice. — The
notice shall be affixed to the copies in such manner and location as to give
reasonable notice of the claim of copyright. The Register of Copyrights shall
prescribe by regulation, as examples, specific methods of affixation and positions
of the notice on various types of works that will satisfy this requirement,
but these specifications shall not be considered exhaustive.
(d) Evidentiary Weight of Notice. — If
a notice of copyright in the form and position specified by this section appears
on the published copy or copies to which a defendant in a copyright infringement
suit had access, then no weight shall be given to such a defendant's interposition
of a defense based on innocent infringement in mitigation of actual or statutory
damages, except as provided in the last sentence of section
504(c)(2).
(a) General Provisions. — Whenever
a sound recording protected under this title is published in the United States
or elsewhere by authority of the copyright owner, a notice of copyright as
provided by this section may be placed on publicly distributed phonorecords
of the sound recording.
(b) Form of Notice. — If a
notice appears on the phonorecords, it shall consist of the following three
elements:
(1) the symbol (the letter P in a circle);
and
(2) the year of first publication of the sound recording;
and
(3) the name of the owner of copyright in the sound recording,
or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known
alternative designation of the owner; if the producer of the sound recording
is named on the phonorecord labels or containers, and if no other name appears
in conjunction with the notice, the producer's name shall be considered a
part of the notice.
(c) Position of Notice. — The
notice shall be placed on the surface of the phonorecord, or on the phonorecord
label or container, in such manner and location as to give reasonable notice
of the claim of copyright.
(d) Evidentiary Weight of Notice. — If
a notice of copyright in the form and position specified by this section appears
on the published phonorecord or phonorecords to which a defendant in a copyright
infringement suit had access, then no weight shall be given to such a defendant's
interposition of a defense based on innocent infringement in mitigation of
actual or statutory damages, except as provided in the last sentence of section 504(c)(2).
Sections 401(d) and 402(d) shall not apply to a work published in copies
or phonorecords consisting predominantly of one or more works of the United
States Government unless the notice of copyright appearing on the published
copies or phonorecords to which a defendant in the copyright infringement
suit had access includes a statement identifying, either affirmatively or
negatively, those portions of the copies or phonorecords embodying any work
or works protected under this title.
(a) A separate contribution to a collective work may bear
its own notice of copyright, as provided by sections
401 through 403. However, a single notice
applicable to the collective work as a whole is sufficient to invoke the provisions
of section 401(d) or 402(d), as applicable with respect to the separate
contributions it contains (not including advertisements inserted on behalf
of persons other than the owner of copyright in the collective work), regardless
of the ownership of copyright in the contributions and whether or not they
have been previously published.
(b) With respect to copies and phonorecords publicly distributed
by authority of the copyright owner before the effective date of the Berne
Convention Implementation Act of 1988, where the person named in a single
notice applicable to a collective work as a whole is not the owner of copyright
in a separate contribution that does not bear its own notice, the case is
governed by the provisions of section 406(a).
(a) Effect of Omission on Copyright. — With
respect to copies and phonorecords publicly distributed by authority of the
copyright owner before the effective date of the Berne Convention Implementation
Act of 1988, the omission of the copyright notice described in sections 401 through
403 from copies or phonorecords publicly distributed
by authority of the copyright owner does not invalidate the copyright in a
work if —
(1) the notice has been omitted from no more than a relatively
small number of copies or phonorecords distributed to the public; or
(2) registration for the work has been made before or is
made within five years after the publication without notice, and a reasonable
effort is made to add notice to all copies or phonorecords that are distributed
to the public in the United States after the omission has been discovered;
or
(3) the notice has been omitted in violation of an express
requirement in writing that, as a condition of the copyright owner's authorization
of the public distribution of copies or phonorecords, they bear the prescribed
notice.
(b) Effect of Omission on Innocent
Infringers. — Any person who innocently infringes a copyright, in reliance
upon an authorized copy or phonorecord from which the copyright notice has
been omitted and which was publicly distributed by authority of the copyright
owner before the effective date of the Berne Convention Implementation Act
of 1988, incurs no liability for actual or statutory damages under section
504 for any infringing acts committed before receiving actual notice that
registration for the work has been made under section
408, if such person proves that he or she was misled by the omission of
notice. In a suit for infringement in such a case the court may allow or disallow
recovery of any of the infringer's profits attributable to the infringement,
and may enjoin the continuation of the infringing undertaking or may require,
as a condition for permitting the continuation of the infringing undertaking,
that the infringer pay the copyright owner a reasonable license fee in an
amount and on terms fixed by the court.
(c) Removal of Notice. — Protection
under this title is not affected by the removal, destruction, or obliteration
of the notice, without the authorization of the copyright owner, from any
publicly distributed copies or phonorecords.
(a) Error in Name. — With
respect to copies and phonorecords publicly distributed by authority of the
copyright owner before the effective date of the Berne Convention Implementation
Act of 1988, where the person named in the copyright notice on copies or phonorecords
publicly distributed by authority of the copyright owner is not the owner
of copyright, the validity and ownership of the copyright are not affected.
In such a case, however, any person who innocently begins an undertaking that
infringes the copyright has a complete defense to any action for such infringement
if such person proves that he or she was misled by the notice and began the
undertaking in good faith under a purported transfer or license from the person
named therein, unless before the undertaking was begun-
(1) registration for the work had been made in the name
of the owner of copyright; or
(2) a document executed by the person named in the notice
and showing the ownership of the copyright had been recorded.
The person named in the notice is liable to account to the copyright
owner for all receipts from transfers or licenses purportedly made under the
copyright by the person named in the notice.
(b) Error in Date. — When
the year date in the notice on copies or phonorecords distributed before the
effective date of the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 by authority
of the copyright owner is earlier than the year in which publication first
occurred, any period computed from the year of first publication under
section
302 is to be computed from the year in the notice. Where the year date
is more than one year later than the year in which publication first occurred,
the work is considered to have been published without any notice and is governed
by the provisions of section 405.
(c) Omission of Name or Date. — Where
copies or phonorecords publicly distributed before the effective date of the
Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 by authority of the copyright
owner contain no name or no date that could reasonably be considered a part
of the notice, the work is considered to have been published without any notice
and is governed by the provisions of section 405
as in effect on the day before the effective date of the Berne Convention
Implementation Act of 1988.
(a) Except as provided by subsection (c), and subject to
the provisions of subsection (e), the owner of copyright or of the exclusive
right of publication in a work published in the United States shall deposit,
within three months after the date of such publication —
(1) two complete copies of the best edition; or
(2) if the work is a sound recording, two complete phonorecords
of the best edition, together with any printed or other visually perceptible
material published with such phonorecords.
Neither the deposit requirements of this subsection nor the acquisition
provisions of subsection (e) are conditions of copyright protection.
(b) The required copies or phonorecords shall be deposited
in the Copyright Office for the use or disposition of the Library of Congress.
The Register of Copyrights shall, when requested by the depositor and upon
payment of the fee prescribed by section 708,
issue a receipt for the deposit.
(c) The Register of Copyrights may by regulation exempt
any categories of material from the deposit requirements of this section,
or require deposit of only one copy or phonorecord with respect to any categories.
Such regulations shall provide either for complete exemption from the deposit
requirements of this section, or for alternative forms of deposit aimed at
providing a satisfactory archival record of a work without imposing practical
or financial hardships on the depositor, where the individual author is the
owner of copyright in a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work and (i) less
than five copies of the work have been published, or (ii) the work has been
published in a limited edition consisting of numbered copies, the monetary
value of which would make the mandatory deposit of two copies of the best
edition of the work burdensome, unfair, or unreasonable.
(d) At any time after publication of a work as provided
by subsection(a), the Register of Copyrights may make written demand for the
required deposit on any of the persons obligated to make the deposit under
subsection (a). Unless deposit is made within three months after the demand
is received, the person or persons on whom the demand was made are liable —
(1) to a fine of not more than $250 for each work; and
(2) to pay into a specially designated fund in the Library
of Congress the total retail price of the copies or phonorecords demanded,
or, if no retail price has been fixed, the reasonable cost to the Library
of Congress of acquiring them; and
(3) to pay a fine of $2,500, in addition to any fine or
liability imposed under clauses (1) and (2), if such person willfully or repeatedly
fails or refuses to comply with such a demand.
(e) With respect to transmission programs that have been
fixed and transmitted to the public in the United States but have not been
published, the Register of Copyrights shall, after consulting with the Librarian
of Congress and other interested organizations and officials, establish regulations
governing the acquisition, through deposit or otherwise, of copies or phonorecords
of such programs for the collections of the Library of Congress.
(1) The Librarian of Congress shall be permitted, under
the standards and conditions set forth in such regulations, to make a fixation
of a transmission program directly from a transmission to the public, and
to reproduce one copy or phonorecord from such fixation for archival purposes.
(2) Such regulations shall also provide standards and procedures
by which the Register of Copyrights may make written demand, upon the owner
of the right of transmission in the United States, for the deposit of a copy
or phonorecord of a specific transmission program. Such deposit may, at the
option of the owner of the right of transmission in the United States, be
accomplished by gift, by loan for purposes of reproduction, or by sale at
a price not to exceed the cost of reproducing and supplying the copy or phonorecord.
The regulations established under this clause shall provide reasonable periods
of not less than three months for compliance with a demand, and shall allow
for extensions of such periods and adjustments in the scope of the demand
or the methods for fulfilling it, as reasonably warranted by the circumstances.
Willful failure or refusal to comply with the conditions prescribed by such
regulations shall subject the owner of the right of transmission in the United
States to liability for an amount, not to exceed the cost of reproducing and
supplying the copy or phonorecord in question, to be paid into a specially
designated fund in the Library of Congress.
(3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require
the making or retention, for purposes of deposit, of any copy or phonorecord
of an unpublished transmission program, the transmission of which occurs before
the receipt of a specific written demand as provided by clause (2).
(4) No activity undertaken in compliance with regulations
prescribed under clauses (1) and (2) of this subsection shall result in liability
if intended solely to assist in the acquisition of copies or phonorecords
under this subsection.
(a) Registration Permissive. — At
any time during the subsistence of the first term of copyright in any published
or unpublished work in which the copyright was secured before January 1, 1978,
and during the subsistence of any copyright secured on or after that date,
the owner of copyright or of any exclusive right in the work may obtain registration
of the copyright claim by delivering to the Copyright Office the deposit specified
by this section, together with the application and fee specified by
sections 409 and 708.
Such registration is not a condition of copyright protection.
(b) Deposit for Copyright Registration. — Except
as provided by subsection (c), the material deposited for registration shall
include —
(1) in the case of an unpublished work, one complete copy
or phonorecord;
(2) in the case of a published work, two complete copies
or phonorecords of the best edition;
(3) in the case of a work first published outside the United
States, one complete copy or phonorecord as so published;
(4) in the case of a contribution to a collective work,
one complete copy or phonorecord of the best edition of the collective work.
Copies or phonorecords deposited for the Library of Congress
under section 407 may be used to satisfy the
deposit provisions of this section, if they are accompanied by the prescribed
application and fee, and by any additional identifying material that the Register
may, by regulation, require. The Register shall also prescribe regulations
establishing requirements under which copies or phonorecords acquired for
the Library of Congress under subsection (e) of
section 407, otherwise than by deposit, may be used
to satisfy the deposit provisions of this section.
(c) Administrative Classification
and Optional Deposit. —
(1) The Register of Copyrights is authorized to specify
by regulation the administrative classes into which works are to be placed
for purposes of deposit and registration, and the nature of the copies or
phonorecords to be deposited in the various classes specified. The regulations
may require or permit, for particular classes, the deposit of identifying
material instead of copies or phonorecords, the deposit of only one copy or
phonorecord where two would normally be required, or a single registration
for a group of related works. This administrative classification of works
has no significance with respect to the subject matter of copyright or the
exclusive rights provided by this title.
(2) Without prejudice to the general authority provided
under clause (1), the Register of Copyrights shall establish regulations specifically
permitting a single registration for a group of works by the same individual
author, all first published as contributions to periodicals, including newspapers,
within a twelve-month period, on the basis of a single deposit, application,
and registration fee, under the following conditions —
(A) if the deposit consists of one copy of the entire issue
of the periodical, or of the entire section in the case of a newspaper, in
which each contribution was first published; and
(B) if the application identifies each work separately,
including the periodical containing it and its date of first publication.
(3) As an alternative to separate renewal registrations
under subsection (a) of section 304, a single
renewal registration may be made for a group of works by the same individual
author, all first published as contributions to periodicals, including newspapers,
upon the filing of a single application and fee, under all of the following
conditions:
(A) the renewal claimant or claimants, and the basis of
claim or claims under section 304(a), is the
same for each of the works; and
(B) the works were all copyrighted upon their first publication,
either through separate copyright notice and registration or by virtue of
a general copyright notice in the periodical issue as a whole; and
(C) the renewal application and fee are received not more
than twenty-eight or less than twenty-seven years after the thirty-first day
of December of the calendar year in which all of the works were first published;
and
(D) the renewal application identifies each work separately,
including the periodical containing it and its date of first publication.
(d) Corrections and Amplifications. — The
Register may also establish, by regulation, formal procedures for the filing
of an application for supplementary registration, to correct an error in a
copyright registration or to amplify the information given in a registration.
Such application shall be accompanied by the fee provided by section
708, and shall clearly identify the registration to be corrected or amplified.
The information contained in a supplementary registration augments but does
not supersede that contained in the earlier registration.
(e) Published Edition of Previously
Registered Work. — Registration for the first published edition of a
work previously registered in unpublished form may be made even though the
work as published is substantially the same as the unpublished version.
The application for copyright registration shall be made on a
form prescribed by the Register of Copyrights and shall include —
(1) the name and address of the copyright claimant;
(2) in the case of a work other than an anonymous or pseudonymous
work, the name and nationality or domicile of the author or authors, and,
if one or more of the authors is dead, the dates of their deaths;
(3) if the work is anonymous or pseudonymous, the nationality
or domicile of the author or authors;
(4) in the case of a work made for hire, a statement to
this effect;
(5) if the copyright claimant is not the author, a brief
statement of how the claimant obtained ownership of the copyright;
(6) the title of the work, together with any previous or
alternative titles under which the work can be identified;
(7) the year in which creation of the work was completed;
(8) if the work has been published, the date and nation
of its first publication;
(9) in the case of a compilation or derivative work, an
identification of any preexisting work or works that it is based on or incorporates,
and a brief, general statement of the additional material covered by the copyright
claim being registered;
(10) in the case of a published work containing material
of which copies are required by section 601
to be manufactured in the United States, the names of the persons or organizations
who performed the processes specified by subsection (c) of
section 601 with respect to that material, and the
places where those processes were performed; and
(11) any other information regarded by the Register of
Copyrights as bearing upon the preparation or identification of the work or
the existence, ownership, or duration of the copyright.
If an application is submitted for the renewed and extended term
provided for in section 304(a)(3)(A) and an
original term registration has not been made, the Register may request information
with respect to the existence, ownership, or duration of the copyright for
the original term.
(a) When, after examination, the Register of Copyrights
determines that, in accordance with the provisions of this title, the material
deposited constitutes copyrightable subject matter and that the other legal
and formal requirements of this title have been met, the Register shall register
the claim and issue to the applicant a certificate of registration under the
seal of the Copyright Office. The certificate shall contain the information
given in the application, together with the number and effective date of the
registration.
(b) In any case in which the Register of Copyrights determines
that, in accordance with the provisions of this title, the material deposited
does not constitute copyrightable subject matter or that the claim is invalid
for any other reason, the Register shall refuse registration and shall notify
the applicant in writing of the reasons for such refusal.
(c) In any judicial proceedings the certificate of a registration
made before or within five years after first publication of the work shall
constitute prima facie evidence of the validity of the copyright and
of the facts stated in the certificate. The evidentiary weight to be accorded
the certificate of a registration made thereafter shall be within the discretion
of the court.
(d) The effective date of a copyright registration is the
day on which an application, deposit, and fee, which are later determined
by the Register of Copyrights or by a court of competent jurisdiction to be
acceptable for registration, have all been received in the Copyright Office.
(a) Except for an action brought for a violation of the
rights of the author under section 106A(a),
and subject to the provisions of subsection (b), no action for infringement
of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until registration
of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title. In any
case, however, where the deposit, application, and fee required for registration
have been delivered to the Copyright Office in proper form and registration
has been refused, the applicant is entitled to institute an action for infringement
if notice thereof, with a copy of the complaint, is served on the Register
of Copyrights. The Register may, at his or her option, become a party to the
action with respect to the issue of registrability of the copyright claim
by entering an appearance within sixty days after such service, but the Register's
failure to become a party shall not deprive the court of jurisdiction to determine
that issue.
(b) In the case of a work consisting of sounds, images,
or both, the first fixation of which is made simultaneously with its transmission,
the copyright owner may, either before or after such fixation takes place,
institute an action for infringement under section
501, fully subject to the remedies provided by sections 502 through
506 and sections 509
and 510, if, in accordance with requirements
that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation, the copyright
owner —
(1) serves notice upon the infringer, not less than 48
hours before such fixation, identifying the work and the specific time and
source of its first transmission, and declaring an intention to secure copyright
in the work; and
(2) makes registration for the work, if required by subsection
(a), within three months after its first transmission.
In any action under this title, other than an action brought for
a violation of the rights of the author under section
106A(a) or an action instituted under section
411(b), no award of statutory damages or of attorney's fees, as provided
by sections 504 and 505, shall be made for —
(1) any infringement of copyright in an unpublished work
commenced before the effective date of its registration; or
(2) any infringement of copyright commenced after first
publication of the work and before the effective date of its registration,
unless such registration is made within three months after the first publication
of the work.
1The Berne Convention Implementation
Act of 1988 amended section 401 as follows:
1) in subsection (a), by changing the heading to “General Provisions” and
by inserting “may be placed on” in lieu of “shall be placed on all”; 2) in
subsection (b), by inserting “If a notice appears on the copies, it” in lieu
of “The notice appearing on the copies”; and 3) by adding subsection (d).
Pub. L. No. 100-568, 102 Stat. 2853, 2857.
2The Berne Convention Implementation
Act of 1988 amended section 402 as follows:
1) in subsection (a), by changing the heading to “General Provisions” and
by inserting “may be placed on” in lieu of “shall be placed on all”; 2) in
subsection (b), by inserting “If a notice appears on the phonorecords, it”
in lieu of “The notice appearing on the phonorecords”; and 3) by adding subsection
(d). Pub. L. No. 100-568, 102 Stat. 2853, 2857.
3The Berne Convention Implementation
Act of 1988 amended section 403 in its entirety.
Pub. L. No. 100-568, 102 Stat. 2853, 2858.
4The Berne Convention Implementation
Act of 1988 amended section 404 as follows:
1) in the second sentence of subsection (a), by inserting “to invoke the provisions
of section 401(d) or 402(d), as applicable” in lieu of “to satisfy the
requirements of sections 401 through 403” and 2) in subsection (b), by inserting “With
respect to copies and phonorecords publicly distributed by authority of the
copyright owner before the effective date of the Berne Convention Implementation
Act of 1988,” at the beginning of the sentence. Pub. L. No. 100-568, 102 Stat.
2853, 2858.
5The Berne Convention Implementation
Act of 1988 amended section 405 as follows:
1) in subsection (a), by inserting “With respect to copies and phonorecords
publicly distributed by authority of the copyright owner before the effective
date of the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988, the omission of the
copyright notice described in” at the beginning of the first sentence, in
lieu of “The omission of the copyright notice prescribed by”; 2) in subsection
(b), by inserting after “omitted,” in the first sentence, “and which was publicly
distributed by authority of the copyright owner before the effective date
of the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988”; and 3) by amending the
section heading to add “on certain copies and phonorecords” at the end thereof.
Pub. L. No. 100-568, 102 Stat. 2853, 2858.
6The Berne Convention Implementation
Act of 1988 amended section 406 as follows:
1) in subsection (a), by inserting “With respect to copies and phonorecords
publicly distributed by authority of the copyright owner before the effective
date of the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988,” at the beginning
of the first sentence; 2) in subsection (b), by inserting “before the effective
date of the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988” after “distributed”;
3) in subsection (c), by inserting “before the effective date of the Berne
Convention Implementation Act of 1988” after “publicly distributed” and by
inserting “as in effect on the day before the effective date of the Berne
Convention Implementation Act of 1988” after “405”; and 4) by amending the
section heading to add “on certain copies and phonorecords” at the end thereof.
Pub. L. No. 100-568, 102 Stat. 2853, 2858.
7The Berne Convention Implementation
Act of 1988 amended section 407 by striking
out the words “with notice of copyright” in subsection (a). Pub. L. No. 100-568,
102 Stat. 2853, 2859.
8The Berne Convention Implementation
Act of 1988 amended section 408 by deleting “Subject to the provisions of
section 405(a),”
at the beginning of the second sentence of subsection (a). Pub. L. No. 100-568,
102 Stat. 2853, 2859. That Act also amended section
408(c)(2) by inserting “the following conditions:” in lieu of “all of
the following conditions” and by striking subparagraph (A) and by redesignating
subparagraphs (B) and (C) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively. Id.
The Copyright Renewal Act of 1992 amended section 408 by revising the first sentence of subsection
(a), preceding the words “the owner of copyright or of any exclusive right.”
Pub. L. No. 102-307, 106 Stat. 264, 266.
9The Copyright Renewal Act of 1992
amended section 409 by adding the last sentence.
Pub. L. No. 102-307, 106 Stat. 264, 266.
10The Berne Convention Implementation
Act of 1988 amended section 411 as follows:
1) in subsection (a), by inserting “Except for actions for infringement of
copyright in Berne Convention works whose country of origin is not the United
States, and” before “subject”; 2) in paragraph (b)(2), by inserting “, if
required by subsection (a),” after “work”; and 3) by inserting “and infringement
actions” in the heading, in lieu of “as prerequisite to infringement suit.”
Pub. L. No. 100-568, 102 Stat. 2853, 2859.
The Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 amended section 411(a) by inserting “and an action brought
for a violation of the rights of the author under section 106A(a)” after “United States.” Pub. L. No.
101-650, 104 Stat. 5089, 5131. In 1997, section
411(b)(1) was amended in its entirety. Pub. L. No. 105-80, 111 Stat. 1529,
1532.
The WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties
Implementation Act of 1998 amended the first sentence in section 411(a) by deleting “actions for infringement
of copyright in Berne Convention works whose country of origin is not the
United and” and by inserting “United States” after “no action for infringement
of the copyright in any.” Pub. L. No. 105-304, 112 Stat. 2860, 2863.
11The Visual Artists Rights Act
of 1990 amended section 412 by inserting “an
action brought for a violation of the rights of the author under
section 106A(a) or” after “other than.” Pub. L. No.
101-650, 104 Stat. 5089, 5131
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