Title 17—Copyrights

    This title was enacted by act July 30, 1947, ch. 391, 61 Stat. 652, and was revised in its entirety by     Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2541

Chap.     Sec.

1.     Subject Matter and Scope of Copyright     101

2.     Copyright Ownership and Transfer     201

3.     Duration of Copyright     301

4.     Copyright Notice, Deposit, and Registration     401

5.     Copyright Infringement and Remedies     501

6.     Manufacturing Requirements and Importation     601

7.     Copyright Office     701

8.     Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panels     801

9.     Protection of Semiconductor Chip Products     901

10.     Digital Audio Recording Devices and Media     1001

11.     Sound Recordings and Music Videos     1101

12.     Copyright Protection and Management Systems     1201

13.     Protection of Original Designs     1301

Amendments

     1998—Pub. L. 105–304, title I, § 103(b), title V, § 503(a), Oct. 28, 1998, 112 Stat. 2876, 2916, added items relating to chapters 12 and 13.

     1997—Pub. L. 105–80, § 12(a)(1), Nov. 13, 1997, 111 Stat. 1534, substituted "Requirements" for "Requirement" in item relating to chapter 6, "Arbitration Royalty Panels" for "Royalty Tribunal" in item relating to chapter 8, and "Semiconductor Chip Products" for "semiconductor chip products" in item relating to chapter 9, and added item relating to chapter 10.

     1994—Pub. L. 103–465, title V, § 512(b), Dec. 8, 1994, 108 Stat. 4974, added item relating to chapter 11.

     1984—Pub. L. 98–620, title III, § 303, Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3356, added item relating to chapter 9.

Table I

This Table lists the sections of former Title 17, Copyrights, and indicates the sections of Title 17, as enacted in 1947, which covered similar and related subject matter.

Title 17 Former Sections

Title 17 1947 Revision Sections

1      1

2      2

3      3

4      4

5      5

6      7

7      8

8      9

9      10

10      11

11      12

12      13

13      14

14      15

15      16

16      17

17      18

18      19

19      20

20      21

21      22

22      23

23      24

24      Rep.

25      101

26      102

27      103

28      104

29      105

30      106

31      107

32      108

33      109

34      110

35      111

36      112

37      113

38      114

39      115

40      116

41      27

42      28

43      29

44      30

45      31

46      32

47      201

48      202

49      203

50      204

51      205

52      206

53      207

54      208

55      209

56      210

57      211

58      212

59      213

60      214

61      215

62      26

63      6

64      6

65      25

Table II

This Table lists the sections of former Title 17, Copyrights, and indicates the sections of Title 17, as revised in 1976, which cover similar and related subject matter.

Title 17 1947 Revision Sections

Title 17 New Sections

1      106, 116

2      301

3      102, 103

4      102

5      102

6      102

7      103

8      104, 105, 303

9      104

10      401

11      410

12      408

13      407, 411

14      407

15      407

16      601

17      407

18      407, 506

19      401

20      401, 402

21      405

22      601

23      601

24      203, 301 et seq.

25      301 et seq.

26      101

27      109, 202

28      201, 204

29      204

30      205

31      205

32      201

101      412, 501–504

102      Rep. See T. 28 § 1338

103      Rep. See F.R. Civ. Proc.

104      110, 506

105      506

106      602

107      602

108      603

109      603

110      Rep. See T. 28 § 1338

111      Rep. See T. 28 § 1400

112      502

113      502

114      502

115      507

116      505

201      701(a)

202      701(a)

203      708(c)

204      Rep.

205      701(c)

206      701(b)

207      702

208      705

209      407, 410

210      707

211      707

212      705

213      704

214      704

215      708(a), (b)

216      703

Prior Provisions

     Title 17, as enacted by act July 30, 1947, ch. 391, 61 Stat. 652, consisting of sections 1 to 32, 101 to 116, and 201 to 216, as amended through 1976, and section 203, as amended by Pub. L. 95–94, title IV, § 406(a), Aug. 5, 1977, 91 Stat. 682, terminated Jan. 1, 1978.

Effective Date

     Section 102 of Pub. L. 94–553, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2598, provided that: "This Act [enacting this title and section 170 of Title 2, The Congress, amending section 131 of Title 2, section 290e of Title 15, Commerce and Trade, section 2318 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure, section 543 of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code, section 1498 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, sections 3203 and 3206 of Title 39, Postal Service, and sections 505 and 2117 of Title 44, Public Printing and Documents, and enacting provisions set out as notes below and under sections 104, 115, 304, 401, 407, 410, and 501 of this title] becomes effective on January 1, 1978, except as otherwise expressly provided by this Act, including provisions of the first section of this Act. The provisions of sections 118, 304(b), and chapter 8 of title 17, as amended by the first section of this Act, take effect upon enactment of this Act [Oct. 19, 1976]."

Separability

     Section 115 of Pub. L. 94–553, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2602, provided that: "If any provision of title 17 [this title], as amended by the first section of this Act, is declared unconstitutional, the validity of the remainder of this title is not affected."

Authorization of Appropriations

     Section 114 of Pub. L. 94–553, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2602, provided that: "There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such funds as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act [this title]."

Lost and Expired Copyrights; Recording Rights

     Section 103 of Pub. L. 94–553, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2599, provided that: "This Act [enacting this title] does not provide copyright protection for any work that goes into the public domain before January 1, 1978. The exclusive rights, as provided by section 106 of title 17 as amended by the first section of this Act, to reproduce a work in phonorecords and to distribute phonorecords of the work, do not extend to any nondramatic musical work copyrighted before July 1, 1909."

Title Referred to in Other Sections

     This title is referred to in title 2 sections 179p, 1704, 1711; title 11 section 101; title 15 section 1129; title 18 sections 2319, 2319A; title 19 section 1337; title 20 sections 6622, 8673; title 26 section 543; title 47 sections 542, 544, 605.