U.S.A. Copyright Law, Library of Congress. Copyright Office [reading diary TXT] 📗
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Notice of copyright: Publications incorporating United States
Government works
Notice of copyright: Contributions to collective worksNotice of copyright: Omission of notice on certain copies and
phonorecords
Notice of copyright: Error in name or date on certain copies
and phonorecords
Deposit of copies or phonorecords for Library of Congress Copyright registration in general Application for copyright registration Registration of claim and issuance of certificate Registration and infringement actionsRegistration 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
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