Produced by George Davis
Supplemental Copyright Information
As Published by The United States Copyright Office (USCO)
Included in this Project Gutenberg etext are the following items,published by the United States Copyright Office. Each item isseparated by a page break and a string of 5 asterisks (*****).
a. Circular 3: Copyright Noticeb. Circular 15: Renewal of Copyrightc. Circular 15t: Extension of Copyright Termsd. Circular 22: Highlights of Copyright Amendments Contained in the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA)e. WIPO Copyright Treaty
*****
United States Copyright Office
Circular 3
Copyright Notice
========================================================================
The use of a copyright notice is no longer required under U.S. law,although it is often beneficial. Because prior law did contain such arequirement, however, the use of notice is still relevant to thecopyright status of older works.
This circular discusses both the copyright notice provisions asoriginally enacted in the 1976 Copyright Act (title 17, U.S. Code),which took effect January 1, 1978, and the effect of the 1988 BerneConvention Implementation Act, which amended the copyright law to makethe use of a copyright notice optional on copies of *works published onand after March 1, 1989*. Specifications for the proper form andplacement of the notice are described in this circular.
Works published before January 1, 1978, are governed by the previouscopyright law. Under that law, if a work was published under thecopyright owner's authority without a proper notice of copyright, allcopyright protection for that work was permanently lost in the UnitedStates.
The Uruguay Round Agreements Act of 1994 (URAA) (PL 103-465) modifiedthe effect of publication without notice for certain foreign works.Under this Act, copyright is automatically restored, effective January1, 1996, for certain foreign works placed into the public domain becauseof lack of proper notice or noncompliance with other legal requirements.Although restoration is automatic, if the copyright owner wishes toenforce rights against reliance parties (those who, relying on thepublic domain status of a work, were already using the work before theURAA was enacted), he/she must either file with the Copyright Office aNotice of Intent to Enforce the restored copyright or serve such anotice on the reliance party.
For more information about the copyright notice under the law in effectbefore January 1, 1978, request Circular 96 Section 202.2, "CopyrightNotice", from the Copyright Office. For more information aboutrestoration of copyright under the URAA, request Circular 38b,"Highlights of Copyright Amendments Contained in the Uruguay RoundAgreements Act (URAA)."
—————————————-USE OF THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE—————————————-
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the UnitedStates to authors of "original works of authorship." When a work ispublished under the authority of the copyright owner (see definition of"publication" below), a notice of copyright may be placed on allpublicly distributed copies or phonorecords. The use of the notice isthe responsibility of the copyright owner and does not requirepermission from, or registration with, the Copyright Office.
Use of the notice may be important because it informs the publ