(a)
All administrative functions and duties under this title, except as otherwise
specified, are the responsibility of the Register of Copyrights as director of
the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress. The Register of Copyrights, together
with the subordinate officers and employees of the Copyright Office, shall be
appointed by the Librarian of Congress, and shall act under the Librarian's general
direction and supervision.
(b) In addition to the functions
and duties set out elsewhere in this chapter, the Register of Copyrights shall
perform the following functions:
(1) Advise Congress
on national and international issues relating to copyright, other matters arising
under this title, and related matters.
(2) Provide information
and assistance to Federal departments and agencies and the Judiciary on national
and international issues relating to copyright, other matters arising under this
title, and related matters.
(3) Participate in meetings
of international intergovernmental organizations and meetings with foreign government
officials relating to copyright, other matters arising under this title, and related
matters, including as a member of United States delegations as authorized by the
appropriate Executive branch authority.
(4) Conduct
studies and programs regarding copyright, other matters arising under this title,
and related matters, the administration of the Copyright Office, or any function
vested in the Copyright Office by law, including educational programs conducted
cooperatively with foreign intellectual property offices and international intergovernmental
organizations.
(5) Perform such other functions as Congress
may direct, or as may be appropriate in furtherance of the functions and duties
specifically set forth in this title.
(c) The Register
of Copyrights shall adopt a seal to be used on and after January 1, 1978, to authenticate
all certified documents issued by the Copyright Office.
(d)
The Register of Copyrights shall make an annual report to the Librarian of Congress
of the work and accomplishments of the Copyright Office during the previous fiscal
year. The annual report of the Register of Copyrights shall be published separately
and as a part of the annual report of the Librarian of Congress.
(e)
Except as provided by section 706(b) and the regulations issued thereunder, all
actions taken by the Register of Copyrights under this title are subject to the
provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act of June 11, 1946, as amended (c.
324, 60 Stat. 237, title 5, United States Code, Chapter 5, Subchapter II and Chapter
7).
(f) The Register of Copyrights shall be compensated
at the rate of pay in effect for level III of the Executive Schedule under section
5314 of title 5.3 The Librarian of Congress shall
establish not more than four positions for Associate Registers of Copyrights,
in accordance with the recommendations of the Register of Copyrights. The Librarian
shall make appointments to such positions after consultation with the Register
of Copyrights. Each Associate Register of Copyrights shall be paid at a rate not
to exceed the maximum annual rate of basic pay payable for GS-18 of the General
Schedule under section 5332 of title 5.
The
Register of Copyrights is authorized to establish regulations not inconsistent
with law for the administration of the functions and duties made the responsibility
of the Register under this title. All regulations established by the Register
under this title are subject to the approval of the Librarian of Congress.
In
any case in which time limits are prescribed under this title for the performance
of an action in the Copyright Office, and in which the last day of the prescribed
period falls on a Saturday, Sunday, holiday, or other nonbusiness day within the
District of Columbia or the Federal Government, the action may be taken on the
next succeeding business day, and is effective as of the date when the period
expired.
(a) Upon
their deposit in the Copyright Office under sections 407 and 408, all copies,
phonorecords, and identifying material, including those deposited in connection
with claims that have been refused registration, are the property of the United
States Government.
(b) In the case of published works,
all copies, phonorecords, and identifying material deposited are available to
the Library of Congress for its collections, or for exchange or transfer to any
other library. In the case of unpublished works, the Library is entitled, under
regulations that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe, to select any deposits
for its collections or for transfer to the National Archives of the United States
or to a Federal records center, as defined in section 2901 of title 44.
(c)
The Register of Copyrights is authorized, for specific or general categories of
works, to make a facsimile reproduction of all or any part of the material deposited
under section 408, and to make such reproduction a part of the Copyright Office
records of the registration, before transferring such material to the Library
of Congress as provided by subsection (b), or before destroying or otherwise disposing
of such material as provided by subsection (d).
(d) Deposits
not selected by the Library under subsection (b), or identifying portions or reproductions
of them, shall be retained under the control of the Copyright Office, including
retention in Government storage facilities, for the longest period considered
practicable and desirable by the Register of Copyrights and the Librarian of Congress.
After that period it is within the joint discretion of the Register and the Librarian
to order their destruction or other disposition; but, in the case of unpublished
works, no deposit shall be knowingly or intentionally destroyed or otherwise disposed
of during its term of copyright unless a facsimile reproduction of the entire
deposit has been made a part of the Copyright Office records as provided by subsection
(c).
(e) The depositor of copies, phonorecords, or identifying
material under section 408, or the copyright owner of record, may request retention,
under the control of the Copyright Office, of one or more of such articles for
the full term of copyright in the work. The Register of Copyrights shall prescribe,
by regulation, the conditions under which such requests are to be made and granted,
and shall fix the fee to be charged under section 708(a)(10) if the request is
granted.
(a)
The Register of Copyrights shall ensure that records of deposits, registrations,
recordations, and other actions taken under this title are maintained, and that
indexes of such records are prepared.
(b) Such records
and indexes, as well as the articles deposited in connection with completed copyright
registrations and retained under the control of the Copyright Office, shall be
open to public inspection.
(c) Upon request and payment
of the fee specified by section 708, the Copyright Office shall make a search
of its public records, indexes, and deposits, and shall furnish a report of the
information they disclose with respect to any particular deposits, registrations,
or recorded documents.
(a) Copies may
be made of any public records or indexes of the Copyright Office; additional certificates
of copyright registration and copies of any public records or indexes may be furnished
upon request and payment of the fees specified by section 708.
(b)
Copies or reproductions of deposited articles retained under the control of the
Copyright Office shall be authorized or furnished only under the conditions specified
by the Copyright Office regulations.
(a) Catalog of Copyright Entries. — The
Register of Copyrights shall compile and publish at periodic intervals catalogs
of all copyright registrations. These catalogs shall be divided into parts
in accordance with the various classes of works, and the Register has discretion
to determine, on the basis of practicability and usefulness, the form and
frequency of publication of each particular part.
(b) Other Publications. — The
Register shall furnish, free of charge upon request, application forms for
copyright registration and general informational material in connection with
the functions of the Copyright Office. The Register also has the authority
to publish compilations of information, bibliographies, and other material
he or she considers to be of value to the public.
(c) Distribution of Publications. — All
publications of the Copyright Office shall be furnished to depository libraries
as specified under section 1905 of title 44, and, aside from those furnished
free of charge, shall be offered for sale to the public at prices based on
the cost of reproduction and distribution.
(a) Fees. — Fees shall be
paid to the Register of Copyrights —
(1)
on filing each application under section 408 for registration of a copyright claim
or for a supplementary registration, including the issuance of a certificate of
registration if registration is made;
(2) on filing
each application for registration of a claim for renewal of a subsisting copyright
under section 304(a), including the issuance of a certificate of registration
if registration is made;
(3) for the issuance of a receipt
for a deposit under section 407;
(4) for the recordation,
as provided by section 205, of a transfer of copyright ownership or other document;
(5)
for the filing, under section 115(b), of a notice of intention to obtain a compulsory
license;
(6) for the recordation, under section 302(c),
of a statement revealing the identity of an author of an anonymous or pseudonymous
work, or for the recordation, under section 302(d), of a statement relating to
the death of an author;
(7) for the issuance, under
section 706, of an additional certificate of registration;
(8)
for the issuance of any other certification; and
(9) for the making and reporting of a search as provided
by section 705, and for any related services.
The Register of Copyrights is authorized to fix fees for
other services, including the cost of preparing copies of Copyright Office
records, whether or not such copies are certified, based on the cost of providing
the service.
(b) Adjustment of Fees. — The
Register of Copyrights may, by regulation, adjust the fees for the services
specified in paragraphs (1) through (9) of subsection (a) in the following
manner:7
(1) The Register shall conduct a study of the costs incurred
by the Copyright Office for the registration of claims, the recordation of
documents, and the provision of services. The study shall also consider the
timing of any adjustment in fees and the authority to use such fees consistent
with the budget.
(2) The Register may, on the basis of the study under
paragraph (1), and subject to paragraph (5), adjust fees to not more than
that necessary to cover the reasonable costs incurred by the Copyright Office
for the services described in paragraph (1), plus a reasonable inflation adjustment
to account for any estimated increase in costs.
(3) Any fee established under paragraph (2) shall be
rounded off to the nearest dollar, or for a fee less than $12, rounded off
to the nearest 50 cents.
(4) Fees established under this subsection shall be fair
and equitable and give due consideration to the objectives of the copyright
system.
(5) If the Register determines under paragraph (2) that
fees should be adjusted, the Register shall prepare a proposed fee schedule
and submit the schedule with the accompanying economic analysis to the Congress.
The fees proposed by the Register may be instituted after the end of 120 days
after the schedule is submitted to the Congress unless, within that 120-day
period, a law is enacted stating in substance that the Congress does not approve
the schedule.
(c) The fees prescribed by or under this section are applicable
to the United States Government and any of its agencies, employees, or officers,
but the Register of Copyrights has discretion to waive the requirement of
this subsection in occasional or isolated cases involving relatively small
amounts.
(d) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), all fees
received under this section shall be deposited by the Register of Copyrights
in the Treasury of the United States and shall be credited to the appropriations
for necessary expenses of the Copyright Office. Such fees that are collected
shall remain available until expended. The Register may, in accordance with
regulations that he or she shall prescribe, refund any sum paid by mistake
or in excess of the fee required by this section.
(2) In the case of fees deposited against future services,
the Register of Copyrights shall request the Secretary of the Treasury to
invest in interest-bearing securities in the United States Treasury any portion
of the fees that, as determined by the Register, is not required to meet current
deposit account demands. Funds from such portion of fees shall be invested
in securities that permit funds to be available to the Copyright Office at
all times if they are determined to be necessary to meet current deposit account
demands. Such investments shall be in public debt securities with maturities
suitable to the needs of the Copyright Office, as determined by the Register
of Copyrights, and bearing interest at rates determined by the Secretary of
the Treasury, taking into consideration current market yields on outstanding
marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturities.
(3) The income on such investments shall be deposited
in the Treasury of the United States and shall be credited to the appropriations
for necessary expenses of the Copyright Office.
In any case in which the Register of Copyrights determines,
on the basis of such evidence as the Register may by regulation require, that
a deposit, application, fee, or any other material to be delivered to the
Copyright Office by a particular date, would have been received in the Copyright
Office in due time except for a general disruption or suspension of postal
or other transportation or communications services, the actual receipt of
such material in the Copyright Office within one month after the date on which
the Register determines that the disruption or suspension of such services
has terminated, shall be considered timely.
1The Work Made for Hire and Copyright
Corrections Act of 2000 amended the table of sections for chapter 7 by deleting
section 710, entitled, “Reproduction for use of the blind and physically handicapped:
Voluntary licensing forms and procedures.” Pub. L. No. 106-379, 114 Stat.
1444, 1445.
2The Copyright Fees and Technical
Amendments Act of 1989 amended section 701 by adding subsection (e). Pub.
L. No. 101-319, 104 Stat. 290. In 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
amended section 701 by adding a new subsection (b), redesignating former subsections
(b) through (e) as (c) through (f) respectively, and, in the new subsection
(f), by substituting “III” for “IV” and “5314” for “5315.” Pub. L. No. 105-304,
112 Stat. 2860, 2887.
3Title 5 of the United States
Code is entitled “Government Organization and Employees.”
4Copyright Office regulations are
published in the Federal
Register and in title 37, Chapter II, of the Code
of Federal Regulations.
5The Work Made for Hire and Copyright
Corrections Act of 2000 amended section 705 by rewriting paragraph (a). Pub.
L. No. 106-379, 114 Stat. 1444, 1445.
6The Copyright Fees and Technical
Amendments Act of 1989 amended section 708 .
by substituting a new subsection (a), by redesignating subsections (b) and
(c) as subsections (c) and (d), respectively, and by adding a new subsection
(b). Pub. L. No. 101-318, 104 Stat. 287. The Act states that these amendments “shall take effect 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act” and
shall apply to:
(A) claims to original, supplementary, and renewal copyright
received for registration, and to items received for recordation in the Copyright
Office, on or after such effective date, and
(B) other requests for services received on or after such effective
date, or received before such effective date for services not yet rendered
as of such date.
With respect to prior claims, the Act states that claims to
original, supplementary, and renewal copyright received for registration and
items received for recordation in acceptable form in the Copyright Office
before the above mentioned effective date, and requests for services which
are rendered before such effective date “shall be governed by section 708
of title 17, United States Code, as in effect before such effective date.”
Pub. L. No. 101-318, 104 Stat. 287, 288.
The Copyright Renewal Act of 1992 amended paragraph (2) of
section 708(a) by striking the words “in its first term” and by substituting “$20” in lieu of “$12.” Pub. L. No. 102-307, 106 Stat. 264, 266.
In 1997, section 708 was amended by rewriting subsections (b)
and (d) in their entirety. Pub. L. No. 105-80, 111 Stat. 1529, 1532.
The Work Made for Hire and Copyright Corrections Act of 2000
amended section 708 by rewriting subsection (a), by substituting new language
for the first sentence in subsection (b) and by substituting “adjustment”
for “increase” in paragraph (b)(1), the word “adjust” for “increase” in paragraph
(b)(2) and the word “adjusted” for “increased” in paragraph (b)(5). Pub. L.
No. 106-379, 114 Stat. 1444, 1445. The Act also stated that “The fees under
section 708(a) of title 17, United States Code, on the date of the enactment
of this Act shall be the fees in effect under section 708(a) of such title
on the day before such date of enactment.”
7The current fees may be found in
the Code of Federal Regulations, at 37
C.F.R. §201.3, as as authorized by Pub. L. No. 105-80, 111 Stat. 1529,
1532. In Pub. L. No. 105-80, Congress amended section
708(b) to require that the Register of Copyrights establish fees by regulation.
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