Register of Copyrights

“ In any case in which inaccurate information described under paragraph (1) is alleged, the court shall request the Register of Copyrights to advise the court whether the inaccurate information, if known, would have caused the Register of Copyrights to refuse registration. ”

“ The term of copyright (which is now up to 56 years and would be even longer under the proposal made in ch. V of this report) is too long for ordinary design protection. And there are other fundamentals of the copyright statute--the provisions on notice, deposit, registration, publication, and liability of innocent distributors of infringing articles, for example--that are not suitable for the entire range of industrial designs. ”

“ Our laws dealing with various forms of property other than copyright--chattels, shares of stock, contractual rights, and especially patents--apply generally to the property of citizens and aliens alike. Even in the realm of copyrightable works, our common law now protects the unpublished works of all foreign and domestic authors indiscriminately. ”

“ Printers were formerly obliged to be apprenticed to a member of the company, and all publications for copyright must be entered at their hall. The register of the works so entered for publication commenced from 1557, and is valuable for the light it throws on many points of literary history. The Copyright Act imposes on the company the additional duty of registering all assignments of copyrights. The charities of the company are numerous. ”

“ In essence, the compulsory license permits anyone indiscriminately to make records of the copyright owner's music at the 2-cent rate fixed in the statute. In practice the authors of musical works generally assign their recording and other rights to publishers, under an agreement for the division of royalties. In most instances the record companies secure licenses from the publishers, thereby avoiding some of the mechanics of notice and accounting required by the statute for exercise of the compulsory license. ”

“ The copyright statute should make it clear that, for purposes of registration, the works of art category includes pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works even though they may portray or be intended for use in useful articles, but that useful articles, as such, are not acceptable for deposit. (2) When a copyrighted work of art is used as a design or decoration of a useful article, it should continue to have all the protection afforded by the copyright law. ”

“ Priority of nonexclusive license.--Another question left in doubt by section 30 is whether a nonexclusive license, obtained in good faith from the copyright owner of record, is effective as against an earlier unrecorded transfer. We believe that a licensee should be able to rely on the record when he seeks permission to use a work. We therefore propose that the statute specify that a nonexclusive license obtained in good faith is effective as against an earlier unrecorded transfer. ”

“ Proposals for divisible copyright We believe that the copyright owner should be in a position to assign any one or more of his rights without assigning the entire copyright. And a person who acquires a particular right exclusively should be treated as the owner of that right, though he is not the owner of other rights. This would bring the statute in line with commercial practice. ”

“ The general prohibition against copyright in publications of the U.S. Government should be retained in the copyright statute, with that term being defined as meaning published works produced for the Government by its officers or employees. To avoid duplication and possible confusion, the similar prohibition in the Printing Law should be deleted. (b) A central Government agency should be empowered to authorize exceptions to the general prohibition in special cases, and to authorize the exclusive licensing or transfer of Government-owned copyrights. ”

“ On the contrary, we believe that our recognition of copyright in works emanating from newly established and other underdeveloped countries is more likely to encourage their adoption of copyright laws and their adherence to the Universal Copyright Convention. France and one or two other countries have extended the protection of their copyright laws to all foreign works without regard to reciprocity. ”

“ Even if a manufacturing requirement is retained for books and periodicals, we would recommend dropping it for lithographs and photoengravings.
4. CONSIDERATIONS FOR A NEW LAW a. In general It is hard to see the basis in logic or principle for denying copyright protection to authors as a means of protecting against foreign competition. With the possible exception of the printers themselves, all groups concerned appear to agree that copyright should not be conditioned upon manufacture in the United States. ”

“ It provides the public with a variety of recordings of any particular musical work, which might not be true if the copyright owner could give an exclusive license to one record company. (2) It enables smaller record companies to compete with the larger ones by offering other recordings of the same music. (3) It benefits authors and publishers by giving their works public exposure through several different recordings, thereby increasing their revenue from royalties. ”

“ The ultimate task of the copyright law is to strike a fair balance between the author's right to control the dissemination of his works and the public interest in fostering their widest dissemination. ”

“ Under the present law an assignment is not effective against third persons without notice unless it is recorded, and this provision would be extended to exclusive licenses and partial assignments. Contributions to periodicals.--The report proposes that the copyright secured by the publisher in a periodical or other composite work cover all contributions not separately copyrighted. In the absence of an express assignment, however, the publisher would hold in trust for the author all rights in the contribution except the right to publish it in a similar composite work. ”

“ We would not favor a statutory specification of the terms and conditions of transfer agreements, or a prohibition of transfers on any particular terms. Transfers are made in a wide variety of situations; terms that may be unfair in some cases may be appropriate in others. And statutory specifications or prohibitions may hamper authors, as well as potential users, in arranging for the exploitation of copyright works. ”

“ This would mean the complete elimination of protection for undisseminated works under the common law, and the extension of the Federal statute to all copyrightable material as soon as it comes into existence. This approach is said to have the advantages of simplifying our present dual system of protection and of providing greater assurance of national uniformity. We agree that a uniform Federal copyright system is desirable for the protection of works that have been publicly disseminated. ”

“ Most of them, I think, except those who are purely authors and creators, like the arts associations, have at some time or other been on each side of a copyright controversy. In their business some of them are owners of copyrights and desire to enforce their copyright as far as possible, and most of them are also desirous at times of using literary or artistic matter which is protected by copyright, and they desire that the law shall be precise, so that they can understand their rights and not unwittingly be guilty of offense. ”

“ First, assume that a work is protected by copyright—even if it does not include a copyright notice—unless you know it’s in the public domain. Second, copyright notices that purport to tell you what you may or may not do can’t limit your fair use rights or other rights under the Copyright Act, but they may allow you to do more than the law would otherwise permit. Third, if you agree by contract not to use a work in a particular way, you will abide by the contract. ”

“ As long as a work is in manuscript and copies are not offered for sale it enjoys the same protection, under the common law, as if properly entered for copyright. It is an infringement of copyright to copy, reprint, publish, or vend the whole or any portion of a copyright work for any purpose whatsoever. ”

“ Where copyright in any work has been infringed, the owner of the copyright shall, except as otherwise provided by this Act, be entitled to all such remedies by way of injunction, damages, accounts and otherwise as are conferred by law. ”

“ Owner may sell or otherwise dispose of a lawful copy: but may not lease or lend sound recordings or computer programs for direct or indirect commercial advantage library/school lending exemption of sound recordings and computer programs is permitted Under section 106 (3) of the Copyright Act, the right to distribute a copyrighted work is reserved to the copyright owner. But the distribution is limited by the "first sale doctrine", found in section 109 of the Act. ”

“ As stated in the official circulars of instructions issued by the English Copyright Office, "Copyright is created by the statute, and does not depend upon registration, which is permissive only, and not compulsory, but no proprietor of copyright in any book can take any proceedings in respect of any infringement of his copyright unless he has, before commencing his proceedings, registered his book." ”

“ The owner of any copyright, performing or lecturing right may obtain registration by the deposit of two copies of the best edition of a book or one copy of an art work or photograph of it, and no suit can be maintained prior to such registration. In case, after the death of an author, the owner of the copyright or performing right withholds the work from the public, the Governor-General may grant a license for publication or performance. ”

“ Further than that, in taking out a copyright, or in taking out a patent, the man consents that the copyright shall be confined to his writing, and shall not extend to any other form of expression of his intellectual idea. ”

“ In every civil suit or other proceeding regarding infringement of copyright instituted by an exclusive licensee, the owner of the copyright shall, unless the court otherwise directs, be made a defendant and where such owner is made a defendant, he shall have the right to dispute the claim of the exclusive licensee. ”

“ Once contacted, some copyright owners will give permission for free, while others will require a fee or seek to impose conditions on your use. Good faith negotiation will probably result in a satisfactory outcome, but some license fees will be too high for you, or the owner simply won't want her work used a particular way. If you can't get permission and no copyright exceptions apply, then you will just have to find an alternative to the material you wanted to use. ”