section, and the notice shall be served not less than two or more than ten years before that date. A copy of the notice shall be recorded in the Copyright Office before the effective date of termination, as a condition to its taking effect.

(B) The notice shall comply, in form, content, and manner of service, with requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation. (4) Termination of the grant may be effected notwithstanding any agree ment to the contrary, including an agreement to make a will or to make any

future grant. (b) EFFECT OF TERMINATION.–Upon the effective date of termination, all rights under this title that were covered by the terminated grant revert to the author or, if he is dead, to all of those entitled to terminate his grant under clause (1) of subsection (a), but with the following limitations:

(1) A derivative work prepared under authority of the grant before its termination may continue to be utilized under the terms of the grant after its termination, but this privilege does not extend to the preparation after the termination of other derivative works based upon the copyrighted work covered by the terminated grant.

(2) A further grant, or agreement to make a further grant, of any right covered by a terminated grant is valid only if it is made after the effective date of the termination. As an exception, however, an agreement for such a further grant may be made between the persons effecting the termination and the original grantee or his successor in title, after the notice of termination has been served as provided by clause (3) of subsection (a).

(3) The future rights that will revert upon termination of the grant become vested on the date of the notice of termination has been served as provided by clause (3) of subsection (a). Where the rights revert to the author's widow and one or more of his children or grandchildren, the widow is entitled to a one-half interest in the reverted rights. The interests of the author's children and grandchildren shall in all cases be divided among them on a per stirpes basis according to the number of his children represented.

(4) Termination of a grant under this section shall affect only those rights covered by the grant that arise under this title, and shall in no way affect rights arising under any other Federal, State, or foreign laws.

(5) Unless and until termination is effected under this section, the grant, if it does not provide otherwise, continues in effect for the term of copy

right provided in 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 coveyed or his duly authorized agent.

(b) A certificate of acknowledgment 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. 8 205. 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 actual signature of the person who executed it, or if it is accompanied by a sworn or official certification that it is a true copy of the original, signed statement.

(b) CERTIFICATE OF RECORDATION. - The Register of Copyrights 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.

(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) 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, as provided by section 407, has been made for the work. (d) RECORDATION AS PREREQUISITE TO INFRINGEMENT SUIT.

person claiming by virtue of a transfer to be 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 within two months after its execution in the United States or within four months after its execution abroad, or at any time before recordation of the later transfer. Otherwise the later transfer prevails if recorded first, 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 NON-ExCLUSIVE LICENSE.--A non-exclusive license, whether recorded or not, prevails over a conflicting transfer of copyright ownership if:

(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 Sec. 301. Pre-emption with respect to other laws. 302. Duration of copyright : works created on or after January 1, 1967. 303. Duration of copyright: works created but not published or copyrighted before

January 1, 1967. 304, Duration of copyright: subsisting copyrights. 305. Duration of copyright: terminal date. 8 301. Pre-emption with respect to other laws

(a) On and after January 1, 1967, all rights in the nature of copyright in works that come within the subject matter of copyright as specified by sections 102 and 103, whether created before or after that date and whether published or unpublished, are governed exclusively 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.

(b) Nothing in this title annuls or limits any rights or remedies under the law 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;

(2) any cause of action arising from undertakings commenced before January 1, 1967;

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 registration or other public records of the Copyright Office, the copyright in such 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.

(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 75 years from the year of first publication of a work, or a period of 100 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 50 years before, is entitled to the benefits of a presumption that the author has been dead for at least 50 years. Reliance in good faith upon this presumption shall be a complete defense to any action for infringement under this title. 8 303. Duration of copyright: Works created but not published or copyrighted

before January 1, 1967 Copyright in a work created January 1, 1967, but not theretofore in the public domain or copyrighted, subsists from January 1, 1967, 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, 1990; and, if the work is published before December 31, 1990, the term of copyright shall not expire before December 31, 2015. 8 304. Duration of copyright: Subsisting copyrights

(a) COPYRIGHTS IN THEIR FIRST TERM ON JANUARY 1, 1967.-The duration of any copyright, the first term of which is subsisting on January 1, 1967, is governed by the provisions of the following two clauses :

(1) The copyright 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 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 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 copyright was originally secured.

(2) Subsisting copyrights originally registered in the Patent Office prior to July 1, 1940, under section 3 of the act of June 18, 1874, shall be subject to renewal for a further term of forty-seven years in behalf of the proprietor upon application made to the Register of Copyrights within one year prior to the expiration of the original term of twenty-eight years.

(b) COPYRIGHTS IN THEIR RENEWAL TERM ON DECEMBER 31, 1965, OR RENEWED
BEFORE JANUARY 1, 1967.-The duration of any copyright, the renewal term of
which is subsisting on December 31, 1965, or which is renewed between Decem-
ber 31, 1965, and December 31, 1966, inclusive, is extended to endure for a term
of 75 years from the date copyright was originally secured.

(c) TERMINATION OF TRANSFERS AND LICENSES COVERING EXTENDED RENEWAL
TERM.-In the case of any copyright subsisting in either its first or renewal term
on January 1, 1967, other than a copyright in a work made for hire, the exclusive
or non-exclusive grant of a transfer or license of the renewal copyright or of
any right under it, executed before January 1, 1967, by any of the persons des-
ignated by the second proviso of subsection (a) (1) of this section, otherwise
than by will, is subject to termination under the following conditions:

(1) Termination of the grant may be effected by the surviving person or
persons who executed it. If, in the case of a grant executed by the author,
the author is dead, termination may be effected by his widow (or her
widower) and children; the children of any dead child of the author suc-
ceed to the right of their parent for this purpose.

(2) Termination of the grant may be effected at any time during a period
of five years beginning at the end of 56 years from the date copyright was
originally secured.

(3) The termination shall be effected by serving an advance notice in
writing, signed by all of those entitled to terminate the grant under clause
(1) of this subsection, or by their duly authorized agents, upon the grantee
or his successor in title.

(A) The notice shall state the effective date of the termination, which
shall fall within the five-year period specified by clause (2) of this
subsection, and the notice shall be served not less than two or more than
ten years before that date. A copy of the notice shall be recorded in the
Copyright Office before the effective date of termination, as a condition
to its taking effect.

(B) The notice shall comply, in form, content, and manner of service,
with requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by
regulation.
(4) Termination of the grant may be effected notwithstanding any agree-
ment to the contrary, including an agreement to make a will or to make
any future grant.

(5) Upon the effective date of termination, all rights under this title that
were covered by the terminated grant revert to all of those entitled to ter-
minate the grant under clause (1) of this subsection, but with the following
limitations:

(A) A derivative work prepared under authority of the grant before
its termination may continue to be utilized under the terms of the grant
after its termination, but this privilege does not extend to the prepara-
tion after the termination of other derivative works based upon the copy-
righted work covered by the terminated grant.

(B) A further grant, or agreement to make a further grant, of any
right covered by a terminated grant is valid only if it is made after the
effective date of the termination. As an exception, however, an agree
ment for such a further grant may be made between the persons effecting
the termination and the original grantee or his successor in title, after
the notice of termination has been served as provided by clause (3) of
this subsection.

(C) The future rights that will revert upon termination of the grant
become vested on the date the notice of termination has been served as
provided by clause (3) of this subsection. Where the rights revert to the
author's widow and one or more of his children or grandchildren, the
widow is entitled to a one-half interest in the reverted rights. The in-
terests of the author's children and grandchildren shall in all cases be
divided among them on a per stirpes basis according to the number of
his children represented.

(D) Termination of a grant under this subsection shall affect only
those rights covered by the grant that arise under this title, and shall in
no way affect rights arising under any other Federal, State, or foreign
laws.

(E) Unless and until termination is effected under this subsection, the
grant, if it does not provide otherwise, continues in effect for the re-

mainder of the extended renewal term.
$ 305. Duration of copyright: Terminal date

All terms of copyright provided by sections 302 through 304 run to the end of
the calendar year in which they would otherwise expire.

CHAPTER 4-COPYRIGHT NOTICE, DEPOSIT, AND REGISTRATION
Sec.
401. Notice of copyright : visually perceptible copies.
402. Notice of copyright: phonorecords of sound recordings.
403. Notice of copyright: contributions to collective works.
404. Notice of copyright: omission of notice.
405. Notice of copyright: error in name or date.
406. Deposit of copies or phonorecords for Library of Congress.
407. Copyright registration in general.
408. Application for registration.
409. Registration of claim and issuance of certificate.
410. Registration as prerequisite to infringement suit.
411. Registration as prerequisite to certain remedies for infringement.
3 401. Notice of copyright: Visually perceptible copies

(a) GENERAL REQUIREMENT.--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 shall be placed on all 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.—The notice appearing on the copies shall consist of the
following three elements :

(1) the symbol © (the letter C in a circle), the word "Copyright,” or the
abbreviation "Copr.”;

(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;

(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 designa-

tion of the owner.
(c) POSITION OF NOTICE.--The notice shall be affixed to the copies in such man-
ner and location as to give reasonable notice of the claim of copyright. The Reg-
ister 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.
8 402. Notice of copyright: Phonorecords of sound recordings

(a) 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 copy-
right as provided by this section shall be placed on all publicly distributed
phonorecords of the sound recording.

(b) FORM OF NOTICE.—The notice appearing on the phonorecords shall consist
of the following three elements :

(1) the symbol ® (the letter P in a circle);
(2) the year of first publication of the sound recording;

(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 re-
cording is named on the phonorecord labels or containers, and if no other
name appears in conjunction with the notice, his name shall be considered a