U.S.A. Copyright Law - Library of Congress. Copyright Office (best sales books of all time txt) 📗

copies Notice of copyright: Phonorecords of sound recordings

Notice of copyright: Publications incorporating United States

Government works

Notice of copyright: Contributions to collective works

Notice 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 actions

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