1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 31 the persons provided by clause (3) of this subsection and the original grantee or his successor in title, after the notice of termination has been served as provided by clause (4) of subsection (a). (5) Termination of a grant under this section affects only those rights covered by the grant that arise under this title, and in no way affects rights arising under any other Federal, State, or foreign laws. (6) Unless and until termination is effected under this section, the grant, if it does not provide otherwise, continues in effect for the term of copyright provided by this title. § 204. Execution of transfers of copyright ownership (a) A transfer of copyright ownership, other than by operation of law, is not valid unless an instrument of conveyance, or a note or memorandum of the transfer, is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed or his duly authorized agent. (b) A certificate of acknowledgement is not required for the validity of a transfer, but is prima facie evidence of the execution of the transfer if: (1) in the case of a transfer executed in the United States, the certificate is issued by a person authorized to administer oaths within the United States; or (2) in the case of a transfer executed in a foreign country, the certificate is issued by a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States, or by a person authorized to administer oaths whose authority is proved by a certificate of such an officer. § 205. Recordation of transfers and other documents (a) CONDITIONS FOR RECORDATION.—Any transfer of copyright ownership or other document pertaining to a copyright may be recorded in the Copyright Office if the document filed for recordation bears the 30 actual signature of the person who executed it, or if it is accompanied 32 33 by a sworn or official certification that it is a true copy of the original. signed document. (b) CERTIFICATE OF RECORDATION. The Register of Copyrights 34 shall, upon receipt of a document as provided by subsection (a) and of the fee provided by section 708, record the document and return it with a certificate of recordation. 35 36 37 38 39 (c) RECORDATION AS CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE.-Recordation of a document in the Copyright Office gives all persons constructive notice of the facts stated in the recorded document, but only if: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 32 (1) the document, or material attached to it, specifically identifies the work to which it pertains so that, after the document is indexed by the Register of Copyrights, it would be revealed by a reasonable search under the title or registration number of the work; and (2) registration has been made for the work. (d) RECORDATION AS PREREQUISITE TO INFRINGEMENT SUIT.-No person claiming by virtue of a transfer to the owner of copyright or of any exclusive right under a copyright is entitled to institute an infringement action under this title until the instrument of transfer under which he claims has been recorded in the Copyright Office, but suit may be instituted after such recordation on a cause of action that arose before recordation. (e) PRIORITY BETWEEN CONFLICTING TRANSFERS.-As between two conflicting transfers, the one executed first prevails if it is recorded, in the manner required to give constructive notice under subsection (c) within one month after its execution in the United States or within two months after its execution abroad, or at any time before recordation in such manner of the later transfer. Otherwise the later transfer prevails if recorded first in such manner, and if taken in good faith, for valuable consideration or on the basis of a binding promise to pay royalties, and without notice of the earlier transfer. (f) PRIORITY BETWEEN CONFLICTING TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP AND NONEXCLUSIVE LICENSE.-A nonexclusive license, whether recorded or not, prevails over a conflicting transfer of copyright ownership if the license is evidenced by a written instrument signed by the owner of the rights licensed or his duly authorized agent, and if: 27 28 29 30 31 Sec. 32 (1) the license was taken before execution of the transfer; or (2) the license was taken in good faith before recordation of the transfer and without notice of it. Chapter 3.-DURATION OF COPYRIGHT 301. Pre-emption with respect to other laws. 302. Duration of copyright: Works created on or after January 1, 1977. 304. Duration of copyright: Subsisting copyrights. 305. Duration of copyright: Terminal date. §301. Pre-emption with respect to other laws 33 (a) On and after January 1, 1977, all rights in the nature of copy 34 35 right in works that come within the subject matter of copyright as specified by sections 102 and 103, whether created before or after that 3333 1 date and whether published or unpublished, are governed exclusively 2 by this title. Thereafter, no person is entitled to copyright, literary property rights, or any equivalent legal or equitable right in any such work under the common law or statutes of any State. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 (b) Nothing in this title annuls or limits any rights or remedies under the common law or statutes of any State with respect to: (1) unpublished material that does not come within the subject matter of copyright as specified by sections 102 and 103, including works of authorship not fixed in any tangible medium of expression; (2) any cause of action arising from undertakings commenced before January 1, 1977; (3) activities violating rights that are not equivalent to any of the exclusive rights within the general scope of copyright as specified by section 106, including breaches of contract, breaches of trust, invasion of privacy, defamation, and deceptive trade practices such as passing off and false representation. § 302. Duration of copyright: Works created on or after January 1, 1977 (a) IN GENERAL.--Copyright in a work created on or after January 1, 1977, subsists from its creation and, except as provided by the 22 following subsections, endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and fifty years after his death. 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 (b) JOINT WORKS.-In the case of a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire, the copyright endures for a term consisting of the life of the last surviving author and fifty years after his death. (c) ANONYMOUS WORKS, PSEUDONYMOUS WORKS, AND WORKS MADE FOR HIRE. In the case of an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work or a work made for hire, the copyright endures for a term of seventyfive years from the year of its first publication, or a term of one hundred years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first. If, before the end of such term, the identity of one or more of the authors of an anonymous or pseudonymous work is revealed in the records of a registration made for that work under subsection (a) or (d) of section 407, or in the records provided by this subsection, the copyright in the work endures for the term specified by subsections (a) or (b), based on the life of the author or authors whose identity has been revealed. Any person having an interest in the copyright in an anonymous or pseudonymous work may at any time record, in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 34 records to be maintained by the Copyright Office for that purpose, a statement identifying one or more authors of the work; the statement shall also identify the person filing it, the nature of his interest, the source of his information, and the particular work affected, and shall comply in form and content with requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation. (d) RECORDS Relating to Death of AUTHORS.-Any person having an interest in a copyright may at any time record in the Copyright Office a statement of the date of death of the author of the copyrighted work, or a statement that the author is still living on a particular date. The statement shall identify the person filing it, the nature of his interest, and the source of his information, and shall comply in form and content with requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation. The Register shall maintain current records of information relating to the death of authors of copyrighted works, based on such recorded statements and, to the extent he considers practicable, on data contained in any of the records of the Copyright Office or in other reference sources. (e) PRESUMPTION AS TO AUTHOR'S DEATH.-After a period of seventyfive years from the year of first publication of a work, or a period of one hundred years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first, any person who obtains from the Copyright Office a certified report that the records provided by subsection (d) disclose nothing to indicate that the author of the work is living, or died less than fifty years before, is entitled to the benefit of a presumption that the author has been dead for at least fifty years. Reliance in good faith upon this presumption shall be a complete defense to any action for infringement under this title. § 303. Duration of copyright: Works created but not published or copyrighted before January 1, 1977 Copyright in a work created before January 1, 1977, but not theretoføre in the public domain or copyrighted, subsists from January 1, 33 1977, and endures for the term provided by section 302. In no case, however, shall the term of copyright in such a work expire before December 31, 2001; and, if the work is published on or before December 31, 2001, the term of copyright shall not expire before December 31, 2026. 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 § 304. Duration of copyright: Subsisting copyrights (a) COPYRIGHTS IN THEIR FIRST TERM ON JANUARY 1, 1977.-Any copyright, the first term of which is subsisting on January 1, 1977, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 35 shall endure for twenty-eight years from the date it was originally secured: Provided. That in the case of any posthumous work or of any periodical, cyclopedic, or other composite work upon which the copyright was originally secured by the proprietor thereof, or of any work copyrighted by a corporate body (otherwise than as assignee or licensee of the individual author) or by an employer for whom such work is made for hire, the proprietor of such copyright shall be entitled to a renewal and extension of the copyright in such work for the further term of forty-seven years when application for such renewal and extension shall have been made to the Copyright Office and duly registered therein within one year prior to the expiration of the original term of copyright: And provided further, That in the case of any other copyrighted work, including a contribution by an individual author to a periodical or to a cyclopedic or other composite work, the author of such work, if still living, or the widow, widower, or children of the author, if the author be not living, or if such author, widow, widower, or children be not living, then the author's executors, or in the absence of a will, his next of kin shall be entitled to a renewal and extension of the copyright in such work for a further term of fortyseven years when application for such renewal and extension shall 21 have been made to the Copyright Office and duly registered therein within one year prior to the expiration of the original term of copyright: And provided further. That in default of the registration of such application for renewal and extension, the copyright in any work shall terminate at the expiration of twenty-eight years from the date 26 copyright was originally secured. 14 15 16 27 (b) COPYRIGHTS IN THEIR RENEWAL TERM OR REGISTERED for Re 28 29 30 NEWAL BEFORE JANUARY 1, 1977.--The duration of any copyright, the renewal term of which is subsisting at any time between December 31, 1975, and December 31, 1976, inclusive, or for which renewal registration is made between December 31, 1975, and December 31, 1976, inclusive, is extended to endure for a term of 75 years from the date 33 copyright was originally secured. 31 32 34 35 (c) TERMINATION OF TRANSFERS AND LICENSES COVERING EXTENDED RENEWAL TERM.-In the case of any copyright subsisting in either 36 its first or renewal term on January 1, 1977, other than a copyright 37 in a work made for hire, the exclusive or nonexclusive grant of a trans38 fer or license of the renewal copyright or of any right under it, executed before January 1, 1977, by any of the persons designated by 39 |