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William Wood - "Captains of the Civil War, A Chronicle of the Blue and the Gray"

Alexander Pushkin and other authors - "The Bakchesarian Fountain and Other Poems"

Georg Ebers - "The Emperor, Part 1, Volume 2."

Henry W. Longfellow - "The Children's Own Longfellow"

Copyright Law of the United States of America

T >> The US Copyright Office >> Copyright Law of the United States of America




(e) Priority Between Conflicting Transfer of Ownership and Nonexclusive
License. A nonexclusive license, whether recorded or not, prevails over
a conflicting transfer of copyright ownership if the license is
evidenced by a written instrument signed by the owner of the rights
licensed or such owner's duly authorized agent, and if

(1) the license was taken before execution of the transfer; or

(2) the license was taken in good faith before recordation of the
transfer and without notice of it.

------------------
Chapter 2 Endnotes

1 In 1978, section 201(e) was amended by deleting the period at the end
and adding ", except as provided under title 11."

2 Title 11 of the *United States Code* is entitled "Bankruptcy."

3 In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act amended section
203 by deleting "by his widow or her widower and his or her
grandchildren" from the first sentence in paragraph (2) of subsection
(a) and by adding subparagraph (D) to paragraph (2). Pub. L. No.
105-298, 112 Stat. 2827, 2829.

4 The Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 amended section 205
by deleting subsection (d) and redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as
subsections (d) and (e), respectively. Pub. L. No. 100-568, 102 Stat.
2853, 2857.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3 [1]

Duration of Copyright

+ 301. Preemption with respect to other laws
+ 302. Duration of copyright: Works created on or after January 1,
1978
+ 303. Duration of copyright: Works created but not published or
copyrighted before January 1, 1978
+ 304. Duration of copyright: Subsisting copyrights
+ 305. Duration of copyright: Terminal date


Section 301. Preemption with respect to other laws [2]

(a) On and after January 1, 1978, all legal or equitable rights that are
equivalent to any of the exclusive rights within the general scope of
copyright as specified by section 106 in works of authorship that are
fixed in a tangible medium of expression and come within the subject
matter of copyright as specified by sections 102 and 103, whether
created before or after that date and whether published or unpublished,
are governed exclusively by this title. Thereafter, no person is
entitled to any such right or equivalent right in any such work under
the common law or statutes of any State.

(b) Nothing in this title annuls or limits any rights or remedies under
the common law or statutes of any State with respect to-

(1) subject matter that does not come within the subject matter of
copyright as specified by sections 102 and 103, including works of
authorship not fixed in any tangible medium of expression; or

(2) any cause of action arising from undertakings commenced before
January 1, 1978;

(3) activities violating legal or equitable rights that are not
equivalent to any of the exclusive rights within the general scope of
copyright as specified by section 106; or

(4) State and local landmarks, historic preservation, zoning, or
building codes, relating to architectural works protected under section
102(a)(8).

(c) With respect to sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, any
rights or remedies under the common law or statutes of any State shall
not be annulled or limited by this title until February 15, 2067. The
preemptive provisions of subsection (a) shall apply to any such rights
and remedies pertaining to any cause of action arising from undertakings
commenced on and after February 15, 2067. Notwithstanding the provisions
of section 303, no sound recording fixed before February 15, 1972, shall
be subject to copyright under this title before, on, or after February
15, 2067.

(d) Nothing in this title annuls or limits any rights or remedies under
any other Federal statute.

(e) The scope of Federal preemption under this section is not affected
by the adherence of the United States to the Berne Convention or the
satisfaction of obligations of the United States thereunder.

(f)(1) On or after the effective date set forth in section 610(a) of the
Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, all legal or equitable rights that
are equivalent to any of the rights conferred by section 106A with
respect to works of visual art to which the rights conferred by section
106A apply are governed exclusively by section 106A and section 113(d)
and the provisions of this title relating to such sections. Thereafter,
no person is entitled to any such right or equivalent right in any work
of visual art under the common law or statutes of any State. [3]

(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) annuls or limits any rights or remedies
under the common law or statutes of any State with respect to-

(A) any cause of action from undertakings commenced before the effective
date set forth in section 610(a) of the Visual Artists Rights Act of
1990;

(B) activities violating legal or equitable rights that are not
equivalent to any of the rights conferred by section 106A with respect
to works of visual art; or

(C) activities violating legal or equitable rights which extend beyond
the life of the author.


Section 302. Duration of copyright: Works created on or after January 1,
1978 [4]

(a) In General. Copyright in a work created on or after January 1, 1978,
subsists from its creation and, except as provided by the following
subsections, endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and
70 years after the author's death.

(b) Joint Works. In the case of a joint work prepared by two or more
authors who did not work for hire, the copyright endures for a term
consisting of the life of the last surviving author and 70 years after
such last surviving author's death.

(c) Anonymous Works, Pseudonymous Works, and Works Made for Hire. In the
case of an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire,
the copyright endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first
publication, or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation,
whichever expires first. If, before the end of such term, the identity
of one or more of the authors of an anonymous or pseudonymous work is
revealed in the records of a registration made for that work under
subsections (a) or (d) of section 408, or in the records provided by
this subsection, the copyright in the work endures for the term
specified by subsection (a) or (b), based on the life of the author or
authors whose identity has been revealed. Any person having an interest
in the copyright in an anonymous or pseudonymous work may at any time
record, in records to be maintained by the Copyright Office for that
purpose, a statement identifying one or more authors of the work; the
statement shall also identify the person filing it, the nature of that
person's interest, the source of the information recorded, and the
particular work affected, and shall comply in form and content with
requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by
regulation.

(d) Records Relating to Death of Authors. Any person having an interest
in a copyright may at any time record in the Copyright Office a
statement of the date of death of the author of the copyrighted work, or
a statement that the author is still living on a particular date. The
statement shall identify the person filing it, the nature of that
person's interest, and the source of the information recorded, and shall
comply in form and content with requirements that the Register of
Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation. The Register shall maintain
current records of information relating to the death of authors of
copyrighted works, based on such recorded statements and, to the extent
the Register considers practicable, on data contained in any of the
records of the Copyright Office or in other reference sources.

(e) Presumption as to Author's Death. After a period of 95 years from
the year of first publication of a work, or a period of 120 years from
the year of its creation, whichever expires first, any person who
obtains from the Copyright Office a certified report that the records
provided by subsection (d) disclose nothing to indicate that the author
of the work is living, or died less than 70 years before, is entitled to
the benefit of a presumption that the author has been dead for at least
70 years. Reliance in good faith upon this presumption shall be a
complete defense to any action for infringement under this title.


Section 303. Duration of copyright: Works created but not published or
copyrighted before January 1, 1978 [5]

(a) Copyright in a work created before January 1, 1978, but not
theretofore in the public domain or copyrighted, subsists from January
1, 1978, and endures for the term provided by section 302. In no case,
however, shall the term of copyright in such a work expire before
December 31, 2002; and, if the work is published on or before December
31, 2002, the term of copyright shall not expire before December 31,
2047.

(b) The distribution before January 1, 1978, of a phonorecord shall not
for any purpose constitute a publication of the musical work embodied
therein.


Section 304. Duration of copyright: Subsisting copyrights [6]

(a) Copyrights in Their First Term on January 1, 1978.

(1)(A) Any copyright, in the first term of which is subsisting on
January 1, 1978, shall endure for 28 years from the date it was
originally secured.

(B) In the case of-

(i) any posthumous work or of any periodical, cyclopedic, or other
composite work upon which the copyright was originally secured by the
proprietor thereof, or

(ii) any work copyrighted by a corporate body (otherwise than as
assignee or licensee of the individual author) or by an employer for
whom such work is made for hire,

the proprietor of such copyright shall be entitled to a renewal and
extension of the copyright in such work for the further term of 67
years.

(C) In the case of any other copyrighted work, including a contribution
by an individual author to a periodical or to a cyclopedic or other
composite work-

(i) the author of such work, if the author is still living,

(ii) the widow, widower, or children of the author, if the author is not
living,

(iii) the author's executors, if such author, widow, widower, or
children are not living, or

(iv) the author's next of kin, in the absence of a will of the author,
shall be entitled to a renewal and extension of the copyright in such
work for a further term of 67 years.

(2)(A) At the expiration of the original term of copyright in a work
specified in paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection, the copyright shall
endure for a renewed and extended further term of 67 years, which-

(i) if an application to register a claim to such further term has been
made to the Copyright Office within 1 year before the expiration of the
original term of copyright, and the claim is registered, shall vest,
upon the beginning of such further term, in the proprietor of the
copyright who is entitled to claim the renewal of copyright at the time
the application is made; or

(ii) if no such application is made or the claim pursuant to such
application is not registered, shall vest, upon the beginning of such
further term, in the person or entity that was the proprietor of the
copyright as of the last day of the original term of copyright.

(B) At the expiration of the original term of copyright in a work
specified in paragraph (1)(C) of this subsection, the copyright shall
endure for a renewed and extended further term of 67 years, which-

(i) if an application to register a claim to such further term has been
made to the Copyright Office within 1 year before the expiration of the
original term of copyright, and the claim is registered, shall vest,
upon the beginning of such further term, in any person who is entitled
under paragraph (1)(C) to the renewal and extension of the copyright at
the time the application is made; or

(ii) if no such application is made or the claim pursuant to such
application is not registered, shall vest, upon the beginning of such
further term, in any person entitled under paragraph (1)(C), as of the
last day of the original term of copyright, to the renewal and extension
of the copyright.

(3)(A) An application to register a claim to the renewed and extended
term of copyright in a work may be made to the Copyright Office-

(i) within 1 year before the expiration of the original term of
copyright by any person entitled under paragraph (1)(B) or (C) to such
further term of 67 years; and

(ii) at any time during the renewed and extended term by any person in
whom such further term vested, under paragraph (2)(A) or (B), or by any
successor or assign of such person, if the application is made in the
name of such person.

(B) Such an application is not a condition of the renewal and extension
of the copyright in a work for a further term of 67 years.

(4)(A) If an application to register a claim to the renewed and extended
term of copyright in a work is not made within 1 year before the
expiration of the original term of copyright in a work, or if the claim
pursuant to such application is not registered, then a derivative work
prepared under authority of a grant of a transfer or license of the
copyright that is made before the expiration of the original term of
copyright may continue to be used under the terms of the grant during
the renewed and extended term of copyright without infringing the
copyright, except that such use does not extend to the preparation
during such renewed and extended term of other derivative works based
upon the copyrighted work covered by such grant.

(B) If an application to register a claim to the renewed and extended
term of copyright in a work is made within 1 year before its expiration,
and the claim is registered, the certificate of such registration shall
constitute prima facie evidence as to the validity of the copyright
during its renewed and extended term and of the facts stated in the
certificate. The evidentiary weight to be accorded the certificates of a
registration of a renewed and extended term of copyright made after the
end of that 1-year period shall be within the discretion of the court.

(b) Copyrights in Their Renewal Term at the Time of the Effective Date
of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. [7] Any copyright still
in its renewal term at the time that the Sonny Bono Copyright Term
Extension Act becomes effective shall have a copyright term of 95 years
from the date copyright was originally secured. [8]

(c) Termination of Transfers and Licenses Covering Extended Renewal
Term. In the case of any copyright subsisting in either its first or
renewal term on January 1, 1978, other than a copyright in a work made
for hire, the exclusive or nonexclusive grant of a transfer or license
of the renewal copyright or any right under it, executed before January
1, 1978, by any of the persons designated by subsection (a)(1)(C) of
this section, otherwise than by will, is subject to termination under
the following conditions:

(1) In the case of a grant executed by a person or persons other than
the author, termination of the grant may be effected by the surviving
person or persons who executed it. In the case of a grant executed by
one or more of the authors of the work, termination of the grant may be
effected, to the extent of a particular author's share in the ownership
of the renewal copyright, by the author who executed it or, if such
author is dead, by the person or persons who, under clause (2) of this
subsection, own and are entitled to exercise a total of more than one-
half of that author's termination interest.

(2) Where an author is dead, his or her termination interest is owned,
and may be exercised, as follows:

(A) the widow or widower owns the author's entire termination interest
unless there are any surviving children or grandchildren of the author,
in which case the widow or widower owns one-half of the author's
interest;

(B) the author's surviving children, and the surviving children of any
dead child of the author, own the author's entire termination interest
unless there is a widow or widower, in which case the ownership of one-
half of the author's interest is divided among them;

(C) the rights of the author's children and grandchildren are in all
cases divided among them and exercised on a per stirpes basis according
to the number of such author's children represented; the share of the
children of a dead child in a termination interest can be exercised only
by the action of a majority of them.

(D) In the event that the author's widow or widower, children, and
grandchildren are not living, the author's executor, administrator,
personal representative, or trustee shall own the author's entire
termination interest.

(3) Termination of the grant may be effected at any time during a period
of five years beginning at the end of fifty-six years from the date
copyright was originally secured, or beginning on January 1, 1978,
whichever is later.

(4) The termination shall be effected by serving an advance notice in
writing upon the grantee or the grantee's successor in title. In the
case of a grant executed by a person or persons other than the author,
the notice shall be signed by all of those entitled to terminate the
grant under clause (1) of this subsection, or by their duly authorized
agents. In the case of a grant executed by one or more of the authors of
the work, the notice as to any one author's share shall be signed by
that author or his or her duly authorized agent or, if that author is
dead, by the number and proportion of the owners of his or her
termination interest required under clauses (1) and (2) of this
subsection, or by their duly authorized agents.

(A) The notice shall state the effective date of the termination, which
shall fall within the five-year period specified by clause (3) of this
subsection, or, in the case of a termination under subsection (d),
within the five-year period specified by subsection (d)(2), and the
notice shall be served not less than two or more than ten years before
that date. A copy of the notice shall be recorded in the Copyright
Office before the effective date of termination, as a condition to its
taking effect.

(B) The notice shall comply, in form, content, and manner of service,
with requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by
regulation.

(5) Termination of the grant may be effected notwithstanding any
agreement to the contrary, including an agreement to make a will or to
make any future grant.

(6) In the case of a grant executed by a person or persons other than
the author, all rights under this title that were covered by the
terminated grant revert, upon the effective date of termination, to all
of those entitled to terminate the grant under clause (1) of this
subsection. In the case of a grant executed by one or more of the
authors of the work, all of a particular author's rights under this
title that were covered by the terminated grant revert, upon the
effective date of termination, to that author or, if that author is
dead, to the persons owning his or her termination interest under clause
(2) of this subsection, including those owners who did not join in
signing the notice of termination under clause (4) of this subsection.
In all cases the reversion of rights is subject to the following
limitations:

(A) A derivative work prepared under authority of the grant before its
termination may continue to be utilized under the terms of the grant
after its termination, but this privilege does not extend to the
preparation after the termination of other derivative works based upon
the copyrighted work covered by the terminated grant.

(B) The future rights that will revert upon termination of the grant
become vested on the date the notice of termination has been served as
provided by clause (4) of this subsection.

(C) Where the author's rights revert to two or more persons under clause
(2) of this subsection, they shall vest in those persons in the
proportionate shares provided by that clause. In such a case, and
subject to the provisions of subclause (D) of this clause, a further
grant, or agreement to make a further grant, of a particular author's
share with respect to any right covered by a terminated grant is valid
only if it is signed by the same number and proportion of the owners, in
whom the right has vested under this clause, as are required to
terminate the grant under clause (2) of this subsection. Such further
grant or agreement is effective with respect to all of the persons in
whom the right it covers has vested under this subclause, including
those who did not join in signing it. If any person dies after rights
under a terminated grant have vested in him or her, that person's legal
representatives, legatees, or heirs at law represent him or her for
purposes of this subclause.

(D) A further grant, or agreement to make a further grant, of any right
covered by a terminated grant is valid only if it is made after the
effective date of the termination. As an exception, however, an
agreement for such a further grant may be made between the author or any
of the persons provided by the first sentence of clause (6) of this
subsection, or between the persons provided by subclause (C) of this
clause, and the original grantee or such grantee's successor in title,
after the notice of termination has been served as provided by clause
(4) of this subsection.

(E) Termination of a grant under this subsection affects only those
rights covered by the grant that arise under this title, and in no way
affects rights arising under any other Federal, State, or foreign laws.

(F) Unless and until termination is effected under this subsection, the
grant, if it does not provide otherwise, continues in effect for the
remainder of the extended renewal term.

(d) Termination Rights Provided in Subsection (c) Which Have Expired on
or Before the Effective Date of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension
Act. In the case of any copyright other than a work made for hire,
subsisting in its renewal term on the effective date of the Sonny Bono
Copyright Term Extension Act [9] for which the termination right provided
in subsection (c) has expired by such date, where the author or owner of
the termination right has not previously exercised such termination
right, the exclusive or nonexclusive grant of a transfer or license of
the renewal copyright or any right under it, executed before January 1,
1978, by any of the persons designated in subsection (a)(1)(C) of this
section, other than by will, is subject to termination under the
following conditions:

(1) The conditions specified in subsections (c) (1), (2), (4), (5), and
(6) of this section apply to terminations of the last 20 years of
copyright term as provided by the amendments made by the Sonny Bono
Copyright Term Extension Act.

(2) Termination of the grant may be effected at any time during a period
of 5 years beginning at the end of 75 years from the date copyright was
originally secured.


Section 305. Duration of copyright: Terminal date

All terms of copyright provided by sections 302 through 304 run to the
end of the calendar year in which they would otherwise expire.

------------------
Chapter 3 Endnotes

1 Private Law 92-60, 85 Stat. 857, effective December 15, 1971, states
that:

[A]ny provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, copyright is
hereby granted to the trustees under the will of Mary Baker Eddy, their
successors, and assigns, in the work "Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures" (entitled also in some editions "Science and Health" or
"Science and Health; with a Key to the Scriptures"), by Mary Baker Eddy,
including all editions thereof in English and translation heretofore
published, or hereafter published by or on behalf of said trustees,
their successors or assigns, for a term of seventy-five years from the
effective date of this Act or from the date of first publication,
whichever is later.

But *cf. United Christian Scientists v. Christian Science Board of
Directors, First Church of Christ, Scientist*, 829 F.2d 1152, 4 USPQ2d
1177 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (holding Priv. L. 92-60, 85 Stat. 857, to be
unconstitutional because it violates the Establishment Clause).

2 The Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 amended section 301
by adding at the end thereof subsection (e). Pub. L. No. 100-568, 102
Stat. 2853, 2857. In 1990, the Architectural Works Copyright Protection
Act amended section 301(b) by adding at the end thereof paragraph (4).
Pub. L. No. 101-650, 104 Stat. 5133, 5134. The Visual Artists Rights Act
of 1990 amended section 301 by adding at the end thereof subsection (f).
Pub. L. No. 101-650, 104 Stat. 5089, 5131. In 1998, the Sonny Bono
Copyright Term Extension Act amended section 301 by changing "February
15, 2047" to "February 15, 2067" each place it appeared in subsection
(c). Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827.

3 The Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, which added subsection (f),
states, "Subject to subsection (b) and except as provided in subsection
(c), this title and the amendments made by this title take effect 6
months after the date of the enactment of this Act," that is, six months
after December 1, 1990. Pub. L. No. 101-650, 104 Stat. 5089, 5132. See
also endnote 37, chapter 1.

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