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INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT PROTECTION There is no such thing as an "international copyright" that will automatically protect an author's writings throughout the entire world. Protection against unauthorized use in a particular country depends, basically, on the national laws of that country. However, most countries do offer protection to foreign works under certain conditions, and these conditions have been greatly simplified by international copyright treaties and conventions. For a list of countries which maintain copyright relations with the United States, write to the Copyright Office and ask for Circular 38a. The United States is a member of the Universal Copyright Convention (the UCC), which came into force on September 16, 1955. Generally, a work by a national or domiciliary of a country that is a member of the UCC or a work first published in a UCC country may claim protection under the UCC. If the work bears the notice of copyright in the form and position specified by the UCC, this notice will satisfy and substitute for any other formalities a UCC member country would otherwise impose as a condition of copyright. A UCC notice should consist of the symbol C (C surrounded by circle) accompanied by the name of the copyright proprietor and the year of first publication of the work. An author who wishes protection for his or her work in a particular country should first find out the extend of protection of foreign works in that country. If possible, this should be done before the work is published anywhere, since protection may often depend on the facts existing at the time of first publication. If the country in which protection is sought is a party to one of the international copyright conventions, the work may generally be protected by complying with the conditions of the convention. Even if the work cannot be brought under an international convention, protection under specific provisions of the country's national laws may still be possible. Some countries, however, offer little or no copyright protection for foreign works. COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION In general, copyright registration is a legal formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright. However, except in two specific situations, [Note 2] registration is not a condition of copyright protection. Even though registration is not generally a requirement of protection, the copyright law provides several inducements or advantages to encourage copyright owners to make registration. Among these advantages are the following: - Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim; - Registration is ordinarily necessary before any infringement suits may be filed in court; - If made before or within 5 years of publication, registration will establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate; and - If registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney's fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner. Registration may be made at any time within the life of the copyright. Unlike the law before 1978, when a work has been registered in unpublished form, it is not necessary to make another registration when the work becomes published (although the copyright owner may register the published edition, if de- sired). A. To register a work, send the following three elements in the same envelope or package to the Register of Copyrights, Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20559: (see page 11 for what happens if the elements are sent separate- ly.) 1. A properly completed application form; 2. A nonrefundable filing fee of $10 for each application; 3. A nonreturnable deposit of the work being registered. The deposit requirements vary in particular situations. The general requirements are as follows: - If the work is unpublished, one complete copy or phonorecord. - If the work was first published in the United States on or after January 1, 1978, two complete copies or phonorecords of the best edition. - If the work was first published in the United States before January 1, 1978, two complete copies or phonorecords of the work as first published. - If the work was first published outside the United States, whenever published, one complete copy or phonorecord of the work as first published. NOTE: Before 1978, the copyright law required, as a condition for copyright protection, that all copies published with the authorization of the copyright owner bear a proper notice. If a work was published under the copyright owner's authority before January 1, 1978, without a proper copyright notice, all copyright protection for that work was permanently lost in the United States. The current copyright law does not provide retroactive protection for those works. - If the work is a contribution to a collective work, and published after January 1, 1978, one complete copy or phonorecord of the best edition of the collective work. B. To register a renewal send: 1. A properly completed RE application form, and 2. A nonrefundable filing fee of $6 for each work. NOTE: COMPLETE THE APPLICATION FORM USING BLACK INK PEN OR TYPEWRITER. You may photocopy the application forms if the forms you submit to the Office are clear, legible, on a good grade of white paper, and printed head to head (so that when you turn the sheet over, the top of page 2 is directly behind the top of page 1). Because the certificates of registration are reproduced directly from the application forms, it is vital the forms meet the stated requirements. Forms not meeting these requirements will be returned. Unpublished Collections A work may be registered in unpublished form as a "collection," with one application and one fee, under the following conditions: - The elements of the collection are assembled in an orderly form; - The combined elements bear a single title identifying the collection as a whole; - The copyright claimant in all the elements and in the collection as a whole is the same; and - All of the elements are by the same author, or, if they are different authors, at least one of the authors has contributed copyrightable authorship to each element. Unpublished collections are indexed in the Catalog of Copyright Entries only under the collection titles. Special Deposit Requirements The Copyright Act gives the Register of Copyrights authority to issue regulations making adjustments in the statutory deposit requirements. These regulations as now issued require or permit, for particular classes, the deposit of identifying material instead of copies or phonorecords, the deposit of only one copy or phonorecord where two would normally be required, and in some cases material other than complete copies of the best edition. For example, the regulations ordinarily require deposit of identifying material, such as photographs or drawings, when the work being registered has been reproduced in three-dimensional copies. If you are unsure of the proper deposit required for your work, write to the Copyright Office for that information and describe the work you wish to register. NOTE: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBERS. A Library of Congress Catalog Card Number is different from a copyright registration number. The Cataloging in Publication (CIP) Division of the Library of Congress is responsible for assigning LC Catalog Card Numbers and is operationally separate from the Copyright Office. A book may be registered in or deposited with the Copyright Office but not necessarily cataloged and added to the Library's collections. For information about obtaining an LC Catalog Card Number, contact the CIP Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540. CORRECTIONS AND AMPLIFICATIONS OF EXISTING REGISTRATIONS To deal with cases in which information in the basic registration later turns out to be incorrect or incomplete, the law provides for "the filing of an application for supplementary registration, to correct an error in a copyright registration or to amplify the information given in a registration." The information in a supplementary registration augments but does not supersede that contained in the earlier registration. Note also that a supplementary registration is not a substitute for an original registration or for a renewal registration. Form CA is available from the Copyright Office for making a supplementary registration. For further information about supplementary registrations, write for Circular 8. MANDATORY DEPOSIT FOR WORKS PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES WITH NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT Although a copyright registration is not required, the Copyright Act establishes a mandatory deposit requirement for works published with notice of copyright in the United States (see definition of "publications" on page 5 below). In general, the owner of copyright, or the owner of the right of first publication in the work, has a legal obligation to deposit in the Copyright Office, within 3 months of publication in the United States, 2 copies (or, in the case of sound recordings, 2 phonorecords) for the use of the Library of Congress. Failure to make the deposit can result in fines and other penalties, but does not affect copyright protection. The Copyright Office has issued regulations exempting certain categories of works entirely from the mandatory deposit requirements, and reducing the obligation for certain other categories. For further information about mandatory deposit, please write to the Copyright Office for Circular 7d. USE OF MANDATORY DEPOSIT TO SATISFY REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS With respect to works published in the United States the Copyright Act contains a special provision under which a single deposit can be made to satisfy both the deposit requirements for the Library and the registration requirements. The provision requires that in order to have this dual effect, the copies or phonorecords must be "accompanied by the prescribed application and fee" for registration. WHO MAY FILE AN APPLICATION FORM The following persons are legally entitled to submit an application form: - The author. This is either the person who actually created the work, or, if the work was made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared. - The copyright claimant. The copyright claimant is defined in Copyright Office regulations as either the author of the work or a person or organization that has obtained owner- ship of all the rights under the copyright initially belonging to the author. This category includes a person or organization who has obtained by contract the right to claim legal title to the copyright in an application for copyright registration. -The owner of exclusive right(s). Under the new law, any of the exclusive rights that go to make up a copyright and any subdivision of them can be transferred and owned separately, even though the transfer may be limited in time or place of effect. The term "copyright owner" with res- pect to any one of the exclusive rights contained in a copyright refers to the owner of that particular right. Any owner of an exclusive right may apply for registration of a claim in the work. - The duly authorized agent of such author, other copyright claimant, or owner of exclusive right(s). Any person authorized to act on behalf of the author, other copyright claimant, or owner of exclusive right(s) may apply for registration. There is no requirement that applications be prepared or filed by an attorney. APPLICATION FORMS For Original Registration Form TX: for published and unpublished nondramatic literary works Form SE: for serials, works issued or intended to be issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely (periodicals, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, annuals, journals, etc.) Form PA: for published and unpublished works of the performing arts (musical and dramatic works, pantomimes and choreographic works, motion pictures and other audiovisual works) Form VA: for published and unpublished works of the visual arts (pictorial, graphic and sculptural works) Form SR: for published and unpublished sound recordings For Renewal Registration Form RE: for claims to renewal copyright in works copyrighted under the law in effect through December 31, 1977 (1909 Copyright Act) For Corrections and Amplifications Form CA: for supplementary registration to correct or amplify information given in the Copyright Office record of an earlier registration. For a Group of Contributions to Periodicals Form GR/CP: an adjunct application to be used for registration of a group of contributions to periodicals in addition to an application form TX, PA, or VA Application form are supplied by the Copyright Office free of charge. COPYRIGHT OFFICE HOTLINE NOTE: Requesters may order application forms and circulars at any time by telephoning (202) 287-9100. Orders will be recorded automatically and filled as quickly as possible. Number is wrong! Instead call 202-707-9100 MAILING INSTRUCTIONS All applications and materials related to copyright registration sent to the Copyright Office should be addressed to the Register of Copyrights, Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20559. The application, returnable deposit (copies, phonorecords or identifying material), and nonrefundable filing fee should be mailed in the same package. WHAT HAPPENS IF THE THREE ELEMENTS ARE NOT RECEIVED TOGETHER Applications and fees received without appropriate copies, phonorecords or identifying material will not be processed and will ordinarily be returned. Unpublished deposits without applications and fees will ordinarily be returned, also. Published deposits received without applications and fees will be immediately transferred to the collections of the Library of Congress. This practice is in accordance with section 408 of the law which provides that the published deposit required for the collections of the Library of Congress may be used for registration only if the deposit is "accompanied by the prescribed application and fee . . ." After the deposit is received and transferred to another department of the Library of for its collections or other disposition, it is no longer available to the Copyright Office. If you wish to register the work, you must deposit additional copies or phonorecords with your application and fee. FEES Do not send cash. A fee sent to the Copyright Office should be in the form of a money order, check, or bank draft payable to the Register of Copyrights; it should be securely attached to the application. A remittance from outside the United States should be payable in U.S. dollars and should be in the form of an international money order or a draft drawn on a U.S. bank. Do not send a check drawn on a foreign bank. EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGISTRATION Please note that a copyright registration is effective on the date of receipt in the Copyright Office of all the required elements in acceptable form, regardless of the length of time it takes thereafter to process the application and mail the certificate of registration. The length of time required by the Copyright Office to process an application varies from time to time, depending on the amount of material received and the personnel available to handle it. It must also be kept in mind that it may take a number of days for mailed material to reach the Copyright Office and for the certificate of registration to reach the recipient after being mailed by the Copyright Office. If you are filing an application for copyright registration in the Copyright Office, you will not receive an acknowledgement that your application has been received, but you can expect within 120 days: - A letter or telephone call from a copyright examiner if further information is needed; - A certificate of registration to indicate the work has been registered, or if the application cannot be accepted, a letter explaining why it has been rejected. If you want to know when the Copyright Office receives your material, you should send it by registered or certified mail and request a return receipt from the post office. Allow at least 3 weeks for the return of your receipt. SEARCH OF COPYRIGHT OFFICE RECORDS The records of the Copyright Office are open for inspection and searching by the public. Moreover, on request, the Copyright Office will make a search of its records at the statutory rate of $10 for each hour or fraction of an hour consumed. For information on searching the Office records concerning the copyright status or ownership of a work, please write for Circulars 22 and 23. AVAILABLE INFORMATION This circular attempts to answer some of the questions that are frequently asked about copyright. For a list of other material published by the Copyright Office, write for "Publications on Copyright." Any requests for Copyright Office publications or special questions relating to copyright problem not mentioned in this circular should be addressed to the Copyright Office, LM-455, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20559. The Copyright Office is not permitted to give legal advice. If you need information or guidance on matters such as disputes over the ownership of a copyright, suits against possible infringers, the procedure for getting a work published, or the method of obtaining royalty payments, it may be necessary to consult an attorney.