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

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