U.S.A. Copyright Law, Library of Congress. Copyright Office [reading diary TXT] 📗

display of a work embodied in a

primary transmission and is actionable as an act of infringement under

section 119(a)(5), a network station holding a copyright or other

license to transmit or perform the same version of that work shall, for

purposes of subsection (b) of this section, be treated as a legal or

beneficial owner if such secondary transmission occurs within the local

service area of that station.

(f)(1) With respect to any secondary transmission that is made by a

satellite carrier of a performance or display of a work embodied in a

primary transmission and is actionable as an act of infringement under

section 122, a television broadcast station holding a copyright or other

license to transmit or perform the same version of that work shall, for

purposes of subsection (b) of this section, be treated as a legal or

beneficial owner if such secondary transmission occurs within the local

market of that station.

(2) A television broadcast station may file a civil action against any

satellite carrier that has refused to carry television broadcast

signals, as required under section 122(a)(2), to enforce that television

broadcast station's rights under section 338(a) of the Communications

Act of 1934.

Section 502. Remedies for infringement: Injunctions

(a) Any court having jurisdiction of a civil action arising under this

title may, subject to the provisions of section 1498 of title 28, grant

temporary and final injunctions on such terms as it may deem reasonable

to prevent or restrain infringement of a copyright.

(b) Any such injunction may be served anywhere in the United States on

the person enjoined; it shall be operative throughout the United States

and shall be enforceable, by proceedings in contempt or otherwise, by

any United States court having jurisdiction of that person. The clerk of

the court granting the injunction shall, when requested by any other

court in which enforcement of the injunction is sought, transmit

promptly to the other court a certified copy of all the papers in the

case on file in such clerk's office.

Section 503. Remedies for infringement: Impounding and disposition of

infringing articles

(a) At any time while an action under this title is pending, the court

may order the impounding, on such terms as it may deem reasonable, of

all copies or phonorecords claimed to have been made or used in

violation of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, and of all plates,

molds, matrices, masters, tapes, film negatives, or other articles by

means of which such copies or phonorecords may be reproduced.

(b) As part of a final judgment or decree, the court may order the

destruction or other reasonable disposition of all copies or

phonorecords found to have been made or used in violation of the

copyright owner's exclusive rights, and of all plates, molds, matrices,

masters, tapes, film negatives, or other articles by means of which such

copies or phonorecords may be reproduced.

Section 504. Remedies for infringement: Damages and profits [4]

(a) In General. Except as otherwise provided by this title, an infringer

of copyright is liable for either-

(1) the copyright owner's actual damages and any additional profits of

the infringer, as provided by subsection (b); or

(2) statutory damages, as provided by subsection (c).

(b) Actual Damages and Profits. The copyright owner is entitled to

recover the actual damages suffered by him or her as a result of the

infringement, and any profits of the infringer that are attributable to

the infringement and are not taken into account in computing the actual

damages. In establishing the infringer's profits, the copyright owner is

required to present proof only of the infringer's gross revenue, and the

infringer is required to prove his or her deductible expenses and the

elements of profit attributable to factors other than the copyrighted

work.

(c) Statutory Damages.

(1) Except as provided by clause (2) of this subsection, the copyright

owner may elect, at any time before final judgment is rendered, to

recover, instead of actual damages and profits, an award of statutory

damages for all infringements involved in the action, with respect to

any one work, for which any one infringer is liable individually, or for

which any two or more infringers are liable jointly and severally, in a

sum of not less than $750 or more than $30,000 as the court considers

just. For the purposes of this subsection, all the parts of a

compilation or derivative work constitute one work.

(2) In a case where the copyright owner sustains the burden of proving,

and the court finds, that infringement was committed willfully, the

court in its discretion may increase the award of statutory damages to a

sum of not more than $150,000. In a case where the infringer sustains

the burden of proving, and the court finds, that such infringer was not

aware and had no reason to believe that his or her acts constituted an

infringement of copyright, the court in its discretion may reduce the

award of statutory damages to a sum of not less than $200. The court

shall remit statutory damages in any case where an infringer believed

and had reasonable grounds for believing that his or her use of the

copyrighted work was a fair use under section 107, if the infringer was:

(i) an employee or agent of a nonprofit educational institution,

library, or archives acting within the scope of his or her employment

who, or such institution, library, or archives itself, which infringed

by reproducing the work in copies or phonorecords; or (ii) a public

broadcasting entity which or a person who, as a regular part of the

nonprofit activities of a public broadcasting entity (as defined in

subsection (g) of section 118) infringed by performing a published

nondramatic literary work or by reproducing a transmission program

embodying a performance of such a work.

(d) Additional Damages in Certain Cases. In any case in which the court

finds that a defendant proprietor of an establishment who claims as a

defense that its activities were exempt under section 110(5) did not

have reasonable grounds to believe that its use of a copyrighted work

was exempt under such section, the plaintiff shall be entitled to, in

addition to any award of damages under this section, an additional award

of two times the amount of the license fee that the proprietor of the

establishment concerned should have paid the plaintiff for such use

during the preceding period of up to 3 years.

Section 505. Remedies for infringement: Costs and attorney's fees

In any civil action under this title, the court in its discretion may

allow the recovery of full costs by or against any party other than the

United States or an officer thereof. Except as otherwise provided by

this title, the court may also award a reasonable attorney's fee to the

prevailing party as part of the costs.

Section 506. Criminal offenses [5]

(a) Criminal Infringement. Any person who infringes a copyright

willfully either

(1) for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain, or

(2) by the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means,

during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copies or phonorecords of 1 or

more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of more than

$1,000,

shall be punished as provided under section 2319 of title 18, United

States Code. For purposes of this subsection, evidence of reproduction

or distribution of a copyrighted work, by itself, shall not be

sufficient to establish willful infringement.

(b) Forfeiture and Destruction. When any person is convicted of any

violation of subsection (a), the court in its judgment of conviction

shall, in addition to the penalty therein prescribed, order the

forfeiture and destruction or other disposition of all infringing copies

or phonorecords and all implements, devices, or equipment used in the

manufacture of such infringing copies or phonorecords.

(c) Fraudulent Copyright Notice. Any person who, with fraudulent intent,

places on any article a notice of copyright or words of the same purport

that such person knows to be false, or who, with fraudulent intent,

publicly distributes or imports for public distribution any article

bearing such notice or words that such person knows to be false, shall

be fined not more than $2,500.

(d) Fraudulent Removal of Copyright Notice. Any person who, with

fraudulent intent, removes or alters any notice of copyright appearing

on a copy of a copyrighted work shall be fined not more than $2,500.

(e) False Representation. Any person who knowingly makes a false

representation of a material fact in the application for copyright

registration provided for by section 409, or in any written statement

filed in connection with the application, shall be fined not more than

$2,500.

(f) Rights of Attribution and Integrity. Nothing in this section applies

to infringement of the rights conferred by section 106A(a).

Section 507. Limitations on actions [6]

(a) Criminal Proceedings. Except as expressly provided otherwise in this

title, no criminal proceeding shall be maintained under the provisions

of this title unless it is commenced within 5 years after the cause of

action arose.

(b) Civil Actions. No civil action shall be maintained under the

provisions of this title unless it is commenced within three years after

the claim accrued.

Section 508. Notification of filing and determination of actions

(a) Within one month after the filing of any action under this title,

the clerks of the courts of the United States shall send written

notification to the Register of Copyrights setting forth, as far as is

shown by the papers filed in the court, the names and addresses of the

parties and the title, author, and registration number of each work

involved in the action. If any other copyrighted work is later included

in the action by amendment, answer, or other pleading, the clerk shall

also send a notification concerning it to the Register within one month

after the pleading is filed.

(b) Within one month after any final order or judgment is issued in the

case, the clerk of the court shall notify the Register of it, sending

with the notification a copy of the order or judgment together with the

written opinion, if any, of the court.

(c) Upon receiving the notifications specified in this section, the

Register shall make them a part of the public records of the Copyright

Office.

Section 509. Seizure and forfeiture

(a) All copies or phonorecords manufactured, reproduced, distributed,

sold, or otherwise used, intended for use, or possessed with intent to

use in violation of section 506 (a), and all plates, molds, matrices,

masters, tapes, film negatives, or other articles by means of which such

copies or phonorecords may be reproduced, and all electronic,

mechanical, or other devices for manufacturing, reproducing, or

assembling such copies or phonorecords may be seized and forfeited to

the United States.

(b) The applicable procedures relating to

(i) the seizure, summary and judicial forfeiture, and condemnation of

vessels, vehicles, merchandise, and baggage for violations of the

customs laws contained in title 19,

(ii) the disposition of such vessels, vehicles, merchandise, and baggage

or the proceeds from the sale thereof,

(iii) the remission or mitigation of such forfeiture,

(iv) the compromise of claims, and

(v) the award of compensation to informers in respect of such

forfeitures, shall apply to seizures and forfeitures incurred, or

alleged to have been incurred, under the provisions of this section,

insofar as applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions of this

section; except that such duties as are imposed upon any officer or

employee of the Treasury Department or any other person with respect to

the seizure and forfeiture of vessels, vehicles, merchandise, and

baggage under the provisions of the customs laws contained in title 19

shall be performed with respect to seizure and forfeiture of all

articles described in subsection (a) by such officers, agents, or other

persons as may be authorized or designated for that purpose by the

Attorney General.

Section 510. Remedies for alteration of programming by