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Richard F. Burton - "Supplemental Nights, Volume 4"

Sir Walter Scott - "The Fortunes of Nigel"

Jack London - "The Sea Wolf"

Georg Ebers - "In The Fire Of The Forge, Volume 6."

Copyright Law of the United States of America

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




4 In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act amended section
302 by substituting "70" for "fifty," "95" for "seventy-five" and "120"
for "one hundred" each place they appeared. Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112
Stat. 2827.

5 In 1997, section 303 was amended by adding subsection (b). Pub. L.
No. 105-80, 111 Stat. 1529, 1534. In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term
Extension Act amended section 303 by substituting "December 31, 2047"
for "December 31, 2027." Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827.

6 The Copyright Renewal Act of 1992 amended section 304 by substituting
a new subsection (a) and by making a conforming amendment in the matter
preceding paragraph (1) of subsection (c). Pub. L. No. 102-307, 106
Stat. 264. The Act, as amended by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term
Extension Act, states that the renewal and extension of a copyright for
a further term of 67 years "shall have the same effect with respect to
any grant, before the effective date of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term
Extension Act [October 27, 1998], of a transfer or license of the
further term as did the renewal of a copyright before the effective date
of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act [October 27, 1998] under
the law in effect at the time of such grant." The Act also states that
the 1992 amendments "shall apply only to those copyrights secured
between January 1, 1964, and December 31, 1977. Copyrights secured
before January 1, 1964, shall be governed by the provisions of section
304(a) of title 17, United States Code, as in effect on the day before .
. .[enactment on June 26, 1992], except each reference to forty-seven
years in such provisions shall be deemed to be 67 years." Pub. L. No.
102-307, 106 Stat. 264, 266, as amended by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term
Extension Act, Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827, 2828.

In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act amended section 304
by substituting "67" for "47" wherever it appeared in subsection (a), by
substituting a new subsection (b) and by adding subsection (d) at the
end thereof. Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827. That Act also amended
subsection 304(c) by deleting "by his widow or her widower and his or
her children or grandchildren" from the first sentence of paragraph (2),
by adding subparagraph (D) at the end of paragraph (2) and by inserting
"or, in the case of a termination under subsection (d), within the five-
year period specified by subsection (d)(2)," into the first sentence of
subparagraph (4)(A). *Id.*

7 A series of nine Acts of Congress extended until December 31, 1976,
previously renewed copyrights in which the renewal term would otherwise
have expired between September 19, 1962 and December 31, 1976. The last
of these enactments is Pub. L. No. 93-573, 88 Stat. 1873, enacted
December 31, 1974, which cites the eight earlier acts. See also section
102 of the Transitional and Supplementary Provisions of the Copyright
Act of 1976, in Part I of the Appendix. Pub. L. No. 94-553, 90 Stat.
2541.

8 The effective date of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act is
October 27, 1998.

9 See endnote 8, *supra*.

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

Chapter 4

Copyright Notice, Deposit, and Registration

+ 401. Notice of copyright: Visually perceptible copies
+ 402. Notice of copyright: Phonorecords of sound recordings
+ 403. Notice of copyright: Publications incorporating United States
Government works
+ 404. Notice of copyright: Contributions to collective works
+ 405. Notice of copyright: Omission of notice on certain copies and
phonorecords
+ 406. Notice of copyright: Error in name or date on certain copies
and phonorecords
+ 407. Deposit of copies or phonorecords for Library of Congress
+ 408. Copyright registration in general
+ 409. Application for copyright registration
+ 410. Registration of claim and issuance of certificate
+ 411. Registration and infringement actions
+ 412. Registration as prerequisite to certain remedies for
infringement


Section 401. Notice of copyright: Visually perceptible copies [1]

(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:

(1) the symbol (the letter C in a circle), or the word "Copyright", or
the abbreviation "Copr."; and

(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).


Section 402. Notice of copyright: Phonorecords of sound recordings [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 [P in a circle] (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).


Section 403. Notice of copyright: Publications incorporating United States
Government works [3]

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.


Section 404. Notice of copyright: Contributions to collective works [4]

(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).


Section 405. Notice of copyright: Omission of notice on certain copies and
phonorecords [5]

(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.


Section 406. Notice of copyright: Error in name or date on certain copies
and phonorecords [6]

(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.


Section 407. Deposit of copies or phonorecords for Library of Congress [7]

(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.


Section 408. Copyright registration in general [8]

(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.


Section 409. Application for copyright registration [9]

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;

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