A	>>	B	>>	C	>>	D	>>	E
F	>>	G	>>	H	>>	I	>>	J
K	>>	L	>>	M	>>	N	>>	O
P	>>	R	>>		S	>>		T
U	>>		V			>>		W

Emily Paret Atwater - "How Sammy Went to Coral Land"

Gong Sun Long - "Gong Sun Long Zi (Thought Of Gong Sun Long Zi)"

Gilbert Parker - "Northern Lights, Volume 1."

Edward Wilson Landor - "The Bushman"

Copyright Law of the United States of America

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




For purposes of section 513, a "proprietor" is an individual,
corporation, partnership, or other entity, as the case may be, that owns
an establishment or a food service or drinking establishment, except
that no owner or operator of a radio or television station licensed by
the Federal Communications Commission, cable system or satellite
carrier, cable or satellite carrier service or programmer, provider of
online services or network access or the operator of facilities
therefor, telecommunications company, or any other such audio or
audiovisual service or programmer now known or as may be developed in
the future, commercial subscription music service, or owner or operator
of any other transmission service, shall under any circumstances be
deemed to be a proprietor. [16]

A "pseudonymous work" is a work on the copies or phonorecords of which
the author is identified under a fictitious name.

"Publication" is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to
the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease,
or lending. The offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group
of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or
public display, constitutes publication. A public performance or display
of a work does not of itself constitute publication.

To perform or display a work "publicly" means-

(1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any
place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle
of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered; or

(2) to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the
work to a place specified by clause (1) or to the public, by means of
any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of
receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in
separate places and at the same time or at different times.

"Registration", for purposes of sections 205(c)(2), 405, 406, 410(d),
411, 412, and 506(e), means a registration of a claim in the original or
the renewed and extended term of copyright. [17]

"Sound recordings" are works that result from the fixation of a series
of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sounds
accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work, regardless of
the nature of the material objects, such as disks, tapes, or other
phonorecords, in which they are embodied.

"State" includes the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, and any territories to which this title is made applicable by an
Act of Congress.

A "transfer of copyright ownership" is an assignment, mortgage,
exclusive license, or any other conveyance, alienation, or hypothecation
of a copyright or of any of the exclusive rights comprised in a
copyright, whether or not it is limited in time or place of effect, but
not including a nonexclusive license.

A "transmission program" is a body of material that, as an aggregate,
has been produced for the sole purpose of transmission to the public in
sequence and as a unit.

To "transmit" a performance or display is to communicate it by any
device or process whereby images or sounds are received beyond the place
from which they are sent.

A "treaty party" is a country or intergovernmental organization other
than the United States that is a party to an international agreement. [18]

The "United States", when used in a geographical sense, comprises the
several States, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, and the organized territories under the jurisdiction of the United
States Government.

For purposes of section 411, a work is a "United States work" only if:

(1) in the case of a published work, the work is first published-

(A) in the United States;

(B) simultaneously in the United States and another treaty party or
parties, whose law grants a term of copyright protection that is the
same as or longer than the term provided in the United States;

(C) simultaneously in the United States and a foreign nation that is not
a treaty party; or

(D) in a foreign nation that is not a treaty party, and all of the
authors of the work are nationals, domiciliaries, or habitual residents
of, or in the case of an audiovisual work legal entities with
headquarters in, the United States;

(2) in the case of an unpublished work, all the authors of the work are
nationals, domiciliaries, or habitual residents of the United States,
or, in the case of an unpublished audiovisual work, all the authors are
legal entities with headquarters in the United States; or

(3) in the case of a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work incorporated
in a building or structure, the building or structure is located in the
United States. [19]

A "useful article" is an article having an intrinsic utilitarian
function that is not merely to portray the appearance of the article or
to convey information. An article that is normally a part of a useful
article is considered a "useful article".

The author's "widow" or "widower" is the author's surviving spouse under
the law of the author's domicile at the time of his or her death,
whether or not the spouse has later remarried.

The "WIPO Copyright Treaty" is the WIPO Copyright Treaty concluded at
Geneva, Switzerland, on December 20, 1996. [20]

The "WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty" is the WIPO Performances
and Phonograms Treaty concluded at Geneva, Switzerland, on December 20,
1996. [21]

A "work of visual art" is-

(1) a painting, drawing, print or sculpture, existing in a single copy,
in a limited edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and
consecutively numbered by the author, or, in the case of a sculpture, in
multiple cast, carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are
consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other
identifying mark of the author; or

(2) a still photographic image produced for exhibition purposes only,
existing in a single copy that is signed by the author, or in a limited
edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and consecutively
numbered by the author.

A work of visual art does not include-

(A)(i) any poster, map, globe, chart, technical drawing, diagram, model,
applied art, motion picture or other audiovisual work, book, magazine,
newspaper, periodical, data base, electronic information service,
electronic publication, or similar publication;

(ii) any merchandising item or advertising, promotional, descriptive,
covering, or packaging material or container;

(iii) any portion or part of any item described in clause (i) or (ii);

(B) any work made for hire; or

(C) any work not subject to copyright protection under this title. [22]

A "work of the United States Government" is a work prepared by an
officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that
person's official duties.

A "work made for hire" is-

(1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her
employment; or

(2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution
to a collective work, as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual
work, as a translation, as a supplementary work, as a compilation, as an
instructional text, as a test, as answer material for a test, or as an
atlas, if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by
them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire. For the
purpose of the foregoing sentence, a "supplementary work" is a work
prepared for publication as a secondary adjunct to a work by another
author for the purpose of introducing, concluding, illustrating,
explaining, revising, commenting upon, or assisting in the use of the
other work, such as forewords, afterwords, pictorial illustrations,
maps, charts, tables, editorial notes, musical arrangements, answer
material for tests, bibliographies, appendixes, and indexes, and an
"instructional text" is a literary, pictorial, or graphic work prepared
for publication and with the purpose of use in systematic instructional
activities.

In determining whether any work is eligible to be considered a work made
for hire under paragraph (2), neither the amendment contained in section
1011(d) of the Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform
Act of 1999, as enacted by section 1000(a)(9) of Public Law 106-113, nor
the deletion of the words added by that amendment--

(A) shall be considered or otherwise given any legal significance, or

(B) shall be interpreted to indicate congressional approval or
disapproval of, or acquiescence in, any judicial determination,

by the courts or the Copyright Office. Paragraph (2) shall be
interpreted as if both section 2(a)(1) of the Work Made For Hire and
Copyright Corrections Act of 2000 and section 1011(d) of the
Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999, as
enacted by section 1000(a)(9) of Public Law 106-113, were never enacted,
and without regard to any inaction or awareness by the Congress at any
time of any judicial determinations. [23]

The terms "WTO Agreement" and "WTO member country" have the meanings
given those terms in paragraphs (9) and (10), respectively, of section 2
of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. {24}

A "computer program" is a set of statements or instructions to be used
directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain
result. [25]


Section 102. Subject matter of copyright: In general [26]

(a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in
original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression,
now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived,
reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid
of a machine or device. Works of authorship include the following
categories:

(1) literary works;
(2) musical works, including any accompanying words;
(3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music;
(4) pantomimes and choreographic works;
(5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;
(6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
(7) sound recordings; and
(8) architectural works.
(b) In no case does copyright protection for an original work of
authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of
operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in
which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.


Section 103. Subject matter of copyright: Compilations and derivative
works

(a) The subject matter of copyright as specified by section 102 includes
compilations and derivative works, but protection for a work employing
preexisting material in which copyright subsists does not extend to any
part of the work in which such material has been used unlawfully.

(b) The copyright in a compilation or derivative work extends only to
the material contributed by the author of such work, as distinguished
from the preexisting material employed in the work, and does not imply
any exclusive right in the preexisting material. The copyright in such
work is independent of, and does not affect or enlarge the scope,
duration, ownership, or subsistence of, any copyright protection in the
preexisting material.


Section 104. Subject matter of copyright: National origin [27]

(a) Unpublished Works. The works specified by sections 102 and 103,
while unpublished, are subject to protection under this title without
regard to the nationality or domicile of the author.

(b) Published Works. The works specified by sections 102 and 103, when
published, are subject to protection under this title if-

(1) on the date of first publication, one or more of the authors is a
national or domiciliary of the United States, or is a national,
domiciliary, or sovereign authority of a treaty party, or is a stateless
person, wherever that person may be domiciled; or

(2) the work is first published in the United States or in a foreign
nation that, on the date of first publication, is a treaty party; or

(3) the work is a sound recording that was first fixed in a treaty
party; or

(4) the work is a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work that is
incorporated in a building or other structure, or an architectural work
that is embodied in a building and the building or structure is located
in the United States or a treaty party; or

(5) the work is first published by the United Nations or any of its
specialized agencies, or by the Organization of American States; or

(6) the work comes within the scope of a Presidential proclamation.
Whenever the President finds that a particular foreign nation extends,
to works by authors who are nationals or domiciliaries of the United
States or to works that are first published in the United States,
copyright protection on substantially the same basis as that on which
the foreign nation extends protection to works of its own nationals and
domiciliaries and works first published in that nation, the President
may by proclamation extend protection under this title to works of which
one or more of the authors is, on the date of first publication, a
national, domiciliary, or sovereign authority of that nation, or which
was first published in that nation. The President may revise, suspend,
or revoke any such proclamation or impose any conditions or limitations
on protection under a proclamation.

For purposes of paragraph (2), a work that is published in the United
States or a treaty party within 30 days after publication in a foreign
nation that is not a treaty party shall be considered to be first
published in the United States or such treaty party, as the case may be.

(c) Effect of Berne Convention. No right or interest in a work eligible
for protection under this title may be claimed by virtue of, or in
reliance upon, the provisions of the Berne Convention, or the adherence
of the United States thereto. Any rights in a work eligible for
protection under this title that derive from this title, other Federal
or State statutes, or the common law, shall not be expanded or reduced
by virtue of, or in reliance upon, the provisions of the Berne
Convention, or the adherence of the United States thereto.

(d) Effect of Phonograms Treaties. Notwithstanding the provisions of
subsection (b), no works other than sound recordings shall be eligible
for protection under this title solely by virtue of the adherence of the
United States to the Geneva Phonograms Convention or the WIPO
Performances and Phonograms Treaty. [28]


Section 104A. Copyright in restored works [29]

(a) Automatic Protection and Term.-

(1) Term.-

(A) Copyright subsists, in accordance with this section, in restored
works, and vests automatically on the date of restoration.

(B) Any work in which copyright is restored under this section shall
subsist for the remainder of the term of copyright that the work would
have otherwise been granted in the United States if the work never
entered the public domain in the United States.

(2) Exception. Any work in which the copyright was ever owned or
administered by the Alien Property Custodian and in which the restored
copyright would be owned by a government or instrumentality thereof, is
not a restored work.

(b) Ownership of Restored Copyright. A restored work vests initially in
the author or initial rightholder of the work as determined by the law
of the source country of the work.

(c) Filing of Notice of Intent to Enforce Restored Copyright Against
Reliance Parties. On or after the date of restoration, any person who
owns a copyright in a restored work or an exclusive right therein may
file with the Copyright Office a notice of intent to enforce that
person's copyright or exclusive right or may serve such a notice
directly on a reliance party. Acceptance of a notice by the Copyright
Office is effective as to any reliance parties but shall not create a
presumption of the validity of any of the facts stated therein. Service
on a reliance party is effective as to that reliance party and any other
reliance parties with actual knowledge of such service and of the
contents of that notice.

(d) Remedies for Infringement of Restored Copyrights.-

(1) Enforcement of Copyright in Restored Works in the Absence of a
Reliance Party. As against any party who is not a reliance party, the
remedies provided in chapter 5 of this title shall be available on or
after the date of restoration of a restored copyright with respect to an
act of infringement of the restored copyright that is commenced on or
after the date of restoration.

(2) Enforcement of Copyright in Restored Works as Against Reliance
Parties. As against a reliance party, except to the extent provided in
paragraphs (3) and (4), the remedies provided in chapter 5 of this title
shall be available, with respect to an act of infringement of a restored
copyright, on or after the date of restoration of the restored copyright
if the requirements of either of the following subparagraphs are met:

(A)(i) The owner of the restored copyright (or such owner's agent) or
the owner of an exclusive right therein (or such owner's agent) files
with the Copyright Office, during the 24-month period beginning on the
date of restoration, a notice of intent to enforce the restored
copyright; and

(ii)(I) the act of infringement commenced after the end of the 12-month
period beginning on the date of publication of the notice in the Federal
Register;

(II) the act of infringement commenced before the end of the 12-month
period described in subclause (I) and continued after the end of that
12-month period, in which case remedies shall be available only for
infringement occurring after the end of that 12-month period; or

(III) copies or phonorecords of a work in which copyright has been
restored under this section are made after publication of the notice of
intent in the Federal Register.

(B)(i) The owner of the restored copyright (or such owner's agent) or
the owner of an exclusive right therein (or such owner's agent) serves
upon a reliance party a notice of intent to enforce a restored
copyright; and

(ii)(I) the act of infringement commenced after the end of the 12-month
period beginning on the date the notice of intent is received;

(II) the act of infringement commenced before the end of the 12-month
period described in subclause (I) and continued after the end of that
12-month period, in which case remedies shall be available only for the
infringement occurring after the end of that 12-month period; or

(III) copies or phonorecords of a work in which copyright has been
restored under this section are made after receipt of the notice of
intent.

In the event that notice is provided under both subparagraphs (A) and
(B), the 12-month period referred to in such subparagraphs shall run
from the earlier of publication or service of notice.

(3) Existing Derivative Works.-

(A) In the case of a derivative work that is based upon a restored work
and is created-

(i) before the date of the enactment of the Uruguay Round Agreements
Act, if the source country of the restored work is an eligible country
on such date, or

(ii) before the date on which the source country of the restored work
becomes an eligible country, if that country is not an eligible country
on such date of enactment, a reliance party may continue to exploit that
derivative work for the duration of the restored copyright if the
reliance party pays to the owner of the restored copyright reasonable
compensation for conduct which would be subject to a remedy for
infringement but for the provisions of this paragraph.

(B) In the absence of an agreement between the parties, the amount of
such compensation shall be determined by an action in United States
district court, and shall reflect any harm to the actual or potential
market for or value of the restored work from the reliance party's
continued exploitation of the work, as well as compensation for the
relative contributions of expression of the author of the restored work
and the reliance party to the derivative work.

(4) Commencement of Infringement for Reliance Parties. For purposes of
section 412, in the case of reliance parties, infringement shall be
deemed to have commenced before registration when acts which would have
constituted infringement had the restored work been subject to copyright
were commenced before the date of restoration.

(e) Notices of Intent to Enforce a Restored Copyright.-

(1) Notices of Intent Filed With the Copyright Office.-

(A)(i) A notice of intent filed with the Copyright Office to enforce a
restored copyright shall be signed by the owner of the restored
copyright or the owner of an exclusive right therein, who files the
notice under subsection (d)(2)(A)(i) (hereafter in this paragraph
referred to as the "owner"), or by the owner's agent, shall identify the
title of the restored work, and shall include an English translation of
the title and any other alternative titles known to the owner by which
the restored work may be identified, and an address and telephone number
at which the owner may be contacted. If the notice is signed by an
agent, the agency relationship must have been constituted in a writing
signed by the owner before the filing of the notice. The Copyright
Office may specifically require in regulations other information to be
included in the notice, but failure to provide such other information
shall not invalidate the notice or be a basis for refusal to list the
restored work in the Federal Register.

(ii) If a work in which copyright is restored has no formal title, it
shall be described in the notice of intent in detail sufficient to
identify it.

(iii) Minor errors or omissions may be corrected by further notice at
any time after the notice of intent is filed. Notices of corrections for
such minor errors or omissions shall be accepted after the period
established in subsection (d)(2)(A)(i). Notices shall be published in
the Federal Register pursuant to subparagraph (B).

(B)(i) The Register of Copyrights shall publish in the Federal Register,
commencing not later than 4 months after the date of restoration for a
particular nation and every 4 months thereafter for a period of 2 years,
lists identifying restored works and the ownership thereof if a notice
of intent to enforce a restored copyright has been filed.

(ii) Not less than 1 list containing all notices of intent to enforce
shall be maintained in the Public Information Office of the Copyright
Office and shall be available for public inspection and copying during
regular business hours pursuant to sections 705 and 708.

(C) The Register of Copyrights is authorized to fix reasonable fees
based on the costs of receipt, processing, recording, and publication of
notices of intent to enforce a restored copyright and corrections
thereto.

(D)(i) Not later than 90 days before the date the Agreement on
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property referred to in section
101(d) (15) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act enters into force with
respect to the United States, the Copyright Office shall issue and
publish in the Federal Register regulations governing the filing under
this subsection of notices of intent to enforce a restored copyright.

(ii) Such regulations shall permit owners of restored copyrights to file
simultaneously for registration of the restored copyright.

(2) Notices of Intent Served on a Reliance Party.-

(A) Notices of intent to enforce a restored copyright may be served on a
reliance party at any time after the date of restoration of the restored
copyright.

(B) Notices of intent to enforce a restored copyright served on a
reliance party shall be signed by the owner or the owner's agent, shall
identify the restored work and the work in which the restored work is
used, if any, in detail sufficient to identify them, and shall include
an English translation of the title, any other alternative titles known
to the owner by which the work may be identified, the use or uses to
which the owner objects, and an address and telephone number at which
the reliance party may contact the owner. If the notice is signed by an
agent, the agency relationship must have been constituted in writing and
signed by the owner before service of the notice.

(3) Effect of Material False Statements. Any material false statement
knowingly made with respect to any restored copyright identified in any
notice of intent shall make void all claims and assertions made with
respect to such restored copyright.

(f) Immunity From Warranty and Related Liability.-

(1) In General. Any person who warrants, promises, or guarantees that
a work does not violate an exclusive right granted in section 106 shall
not be liable for legal, equitable, arbitral, or administrative relief
if the warranty, promise, or guarantee is breached by virtue of the
restoration of copyright under this section, if such warranty, promise,
or guarantee is made before January 1, 1995.

(2) Performances. No person shall be required to perform any act if
such performance is made infringing by virtue of the restoration of
copyright under the provisions of this section, if the obligation to
perform was undertaken before January 1, 1995.

Author of ‘Conversations With God’ Admits Essay Wasn’t His
A personal Christmas tale posted online by the author Neale Donald Walsch turns out to belong to someone else — the writer Candy Chand, who first published it 10 years ago.

Books of The Times: When Labels Fought the Digital, and the Digital Won
Steve Knopper’s stark accounting of the mistakes major record labels have made in the digital era suggests they are largely responsible for their own demise.

Arts, Briefly: Winfrey Web Site Notes Fabricated Memoir
Oprah.com, the Web site of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” has posted a disclaimer acknowledging that Herman Rosenblat admitted he had invented portions of his Holocaust memoir.