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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 405. Notice of copyright: Omission of notice on certain copies and phonorecords
(a) Effect of Omission on Copyright. - With respect to copies and
phonorecords publicly distributed by authority of the copyright
owner before the effective date of the Berne Convention
Implementation Act of 1988, the omission of the copyright notice
described in sections 401 through 403 from copies or phonorecords
publicly distributed by authority of the copyright owner does not
invalidate the copyright in a work if -
(1) the notice has been omitted from no more than a relatively
small number of copies or phonorecords distributed to the public;
or
(2) registration for the work has been made before or is made
within five years after the publication without notice, and a
reasonable effort is made to add notice to all copies or
phonorecords that are distributed to the public in the United
States after the omission has been discovered; or
(3) the notice has been omitted in violation of an express
requirement in writing that, as a condition of the copyright
owner's authorization of the public distribution of copies or
phonorecords, they bear the prescribed notice.
(b) Effect of Omission on Innocent Infringers. - Any person who
innocently infringes a copyright, in reliance upon an authorized
copy or phonorecord from which the copyright notice has been
omitted and which was publicly distributed by authority of the
copyright owner before the effective date of the Berne Convention
Implementation Act of 1988, incurs no liability for actual or
statutory damages under section 504 for any infringing acts
committed before receiving actual notice that registration for the
work has been made under section 408, if such person proves that he
or she was misled by the omission of notice. In a suit for
infringement in such a case the court may allow or disallow
recovery of any of the infringer's profits attributable to the
infringement, and may enjoin the continuation of the infringing
undertaking or may require, as a condition for permitting the
continuation of the infringing undertaking, that the infringer pay
the copyright owner a reasonable license fee in an amount and on
terms fixed by the court.
(c) Removal of Notice. - Protection under this title is not
affected by the removal, destruction, or obliteration of the
notice, without the authorization of the copyright owner, from any
publicly distributed copies or phonorecords.
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