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§ 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 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.

§ 205. Recordation of transfers and other documents

(a) CONDITIONS FOR RECORDATION.-Any transfer of copyright 18 ownership or other document pertaining to a copyright may be 19 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 21 accompanied by a sworn or official certification that it is a true copy of the original, signed statement.

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(b) CERTIFICATE OF RECORDATION.-The Register of Copyrights 24 shall, upon receipt of a document as provided by subsection (a) 25 and of the fee provided by section 708, record the document and 26 return it with a certificate of recordation.

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(c) RECORDATION AS CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE.-Recordation of a 28 document in the Copyright Office gives all persons constructive notice of the facts stated in the recorded document, but only if:

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(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.-No 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 trans

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(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 agreement 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 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 copyright provided in this title.

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§ 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 4 memorandum of the transfer, is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed or his duly authorized agent.

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(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.

§ 205. Recordation of transfers and other documents

(a) CONDITIONS FOR RECORDATION.-Any transfer of copyright 18 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.

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(b) CERTIFICATE OF RECORDATION.-The Register of Copyrights 24 shall, upon receipt of a document as provided by subsection (a) 25 and of the fee provided by section 708, record the document and 26 return it with a certificate of recordation.

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(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.-No 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 trans

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1 fer under which he claims has been recorded in the Copyright Office,

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but suit may be instituted after such rècordation 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.

12 (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:

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Sec.

(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, 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.

§ 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 24 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.

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(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 Janaury 1, 1967;

(3) activities violating rights that are not equivalent to any of the exclusive rights within the general scope of copyright as

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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, 1967

(a) IN GENERAL.-Copyright in a work created on or after January 1, 1967, subsists from its creation and, except as provided by the following subsections, endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and 50 years after his death.

(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 second of the authors to die and 50 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 75 years from the year of its first publication, or a term of 100 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 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 intérest in a copyright may at any time record in the Copyright Of fice 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 inter est, 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 32 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.

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(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 39 who obtains from the Copyright Office a certified report that the records provided by subsection (d) disclose nothing to indicate that

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