Complete Home & Office Legal Guide/Complete Home and Office Legal Guide (Chestnut) (1993).ISO/stat/fed/17ch3.asc

Text File | 1993-08-25 | 18KB | 341 lines

/* Chapter 3 of the Copyright Code follows.*/

S 301. Preemption with respect to other laws

(a) On or after January 1, 1978, all legal or equitable rights
that are equivalent to any of the exclusive rights within the
general scope of copyright as specified by section 106 [17 U.S.C
106] in works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible medium
of expression and come within the subject matter of copyright as
specified by sections 102 and 103 [17 U.S.C. 102 and 103],
whether created before or after that data and whether published
or unpublished, are governed exclusively by this title.
Thereafter, no person is entitled to any such right or equivalent
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 common law or statutes of any State with
respect to--

(1) subject matter that does not come within the subject matter
of copyright as specified by sections 102 and 1034 [17 U.S.C.
102 and 103] including works of authorship not expressed in any
tangible means of expression; or

(2) any cause of action arising from undertakings commenced
before January 1, 1978;

(3) activities violating legal or equitable rights that are not
equivalent to any of the exclusive rights within the general
scope of copyright as specified by section 106 [17 U.S.C. 106];
or

(4) State and local landmarks, historic preservation, zoning, or
building codes, relating to architectural works protected under
section 102(a)(8).

(c) With respect to sound recordings fixed before February 15,
1972, any rights or remedies under the common law or statutes of
any State shall not be annulled or limited by this title [17 U.S.
C. 101 et seq] until February 15, 2047. The preemptive
provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to any such rights
and remedies pertaining to any cause of action arising from
undertakings commenced on and after February 15, 2047.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 303 [17 U.S.C. 303],
no sound recording fixed before February 15, 1982, shall be
subject to copyright under this title [17 U.S.C. 101 et seq.]
before, on, or after February 15, 2047.

(d) Nothing in this title [17 USC SS 101 et seq.] annuls or
limits any rights or remedies under any other Federal statute.

(e) The scope of Federal preemption under this section is not
affected by adherence of the United States to the Berne
Convention or the satisfaction of the obligations of the United
States thereunder.

(f)(1) On or after the effective date set forth in section 610(a)
of the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, all legal or equitable
rights that are equivalent to any of the right conferred by
section 106A apply are governed exclusively by section 106A and
section 113(d) and the provisions of this title relating to such
sections. Thereafter no person is entitled to an such right or
equivalent right in any work of visual art under the common law
or statutes of any State.

(2) Nothing inparagraph (1) annuls or limits any rights or
remedies under the common law or statuesof any State with respect
to--

     (A) any cause of action from undertakings commenced before
the effective date set fforth in section 610(a) of the Visual
Artists Rights Act of 1990;

     (B) activities violating legal or equitable  rights that are
not equivalnet to any of the rights conferred by section 106A
with respectto works of visual art; or

     (C) activities violatting legalor equitable rights which
extend beyond the life of the author.

S 302. Duration of copyright: Works created on or after January
1, 1978

(a) In general. Copyright in a work created on or after January
1, 1978, subsists from its creation and, except as provided by
the following subsections, endures for a term consisting of the
life of the author and fifty years after the author's 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 last surviving author and
fifty years after such last surviving author's 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 seventy-five
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 subsections (a) or (d) of section 408 [17 USC S 408], or in
the records provided by this subsection, the copyright in the
work endures for the term specified by subsection (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
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 that person's interest, the source of the information
recorded, 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 that person's interest, and the source
of the information recorded, 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 the
Register 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
seventy-five 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 [17 USC SS 101 et seq.].

S 303. Duration of copyright:  Works created but not published or
copyrighted before January 1, 1978

Copyright in a work created before January 1, 1978, but not
theretofore in the public domain or copyrighted, subsists from
January 1, 1978, and endures for the term provided by section 302
[17 USC S 302].  In no case, however, shall the term of copyright
in such a work expire before December 31, 2002; and, if the work
is published on or before December 31, 2002, the term of
copyright shall not expire before December 31, 2027.

S 304.  Duration of copyright:  Subsisting copyrights

(a) Copyrights in their first term on January 1, 1978.  Any
copyright, the first term of which is subsisting on January 1,
1978, 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 bod