Laws: Cases and Codes : U.S. Code : Title 17 : Section 407


   
U.S. Code as of: 01/19/04
Section 407. Deposit of copies or phonorecords for Library of Congress

      (a) Except as provided by subsection (c), and subject to the
    provisions of subsection (e), the owner of copyright or of the
    exclusive right of publication in a work published in the United
    States shall deposit, within three months after the date of such
    publication - 
        (1) two complete copies of the best edition; or
        (2) if the work is a sound recording, two complete phonorecords
      of the best edition, together with any printed or other visually
      perceptible material published with such phonorecords.

    Neither the deposit requirements of this subsection nor the
    acquisition provisions of subsection (e) are conditions of
    copyright protection.
      (b) The required copies or phonorecords shall be deposited in the
    Copyright Office for the use or disposition of the Library of
    Congress. The Register of Copyrights shall, when requested by the
    depositor and upon payment of the fee prescribed by section 708,
    issue a receipt for the deposit.
      (c) The Register of Copyrights may by regulation exempt any
    categories of material from the deposit requirements of this
    section, or require deposit of only one copy or phonorecord with
    respect to any categories. Such regulations shall provide either
    for complete exemption from the deposit requirements of this
    section, or for alternative forms of deposit aimed at providing a
    satisfactory archival record of a work without imposing practical
    or financial hardships on the depositor, where the individual
    author is the owner of copyright in a pictorial, graphic, or
    sculptural work and (i) less than five copies of the work have been
    published, or (ii) the work has been published in a limited edition
    consisting of numbered copies, the monetary value of which would
    make the mandatory deposit of two copies of the best edition of the
    work burdensome, unfair, or unreasonable.
      (d) At any time after publication of a work as provided by
    subsection (a), the Register of Copyrights may make written demand
    for the required deposit on any of the persons obligated to make
    the deposit under subsection (a). Unless deposit is made within
    three months after the demand is received, the person or persons on
    whom the demand was made are liable - 
        (1) to a fine of not more than $250 for each work; and
        (2) to pay into a specially designated fund in the Library of
      Congress the total retail price of the copies or phonorecords
      demanded, or, if no retail price has been fixed, the reasonable
      cost to the Library of Congress of acquiring them; and
        (3) to pay a fine of $2,500, in addition to any fine or
      liability imposed under clauses (1) and (2), if such person
      willfully or repeatedly fails or refuses to comply with such a
      demand.

      (e) With respect to transmission programs that have been fixed
    and transmitted to the public in the United States but have not
    been published, the Register of Copyrights shall, after consulting
    with the Librarian of Congress and other interested organizations
    and officials, establish regulations governing the acquisition,
    through deposit or otherwise, of copies or phonorecords of such
    programs for the collections of the Library of Congress.
        (1) The Librarian of Congress shall be permitted, under the
      standards and conditions set forth in such regulations, to make a
      fixation of a transmission program directly from a transmission
      to the public, and to reproduce one copy or phonorecord from such
      fixation for archival purposes.
        (2) Such regulations shall also provide standards and
      procedures by which the Register of Copyrights may make written
      demand, upon the owner of the right of transmission in the United
      States, for the deposit of a copy or phonorecord of a specific
      transmission program. Such deposit may, at the option of the
      owner of the right of transmission in the United States, be
      accomplished by gift, by loan for purposes of reproduction, or by
      sale at a price not to exceed the cost of reproducing and
      supplying the copy or phonorecord. The regulations established
      under this clause shall provide reasonable periods of not less
      than three months for compliance with a demand, and shall allow
      for extensions of such periods and adjustments in the scope of
      the demand or the methods for fulfilling it, as reasonably
      warranted by the circumstances. Willful failure or refusal to
      comply with the conditions prescribed by such regulations shall
      subject the owner of the right of transmission in the United
      States to liability for an amount, not to exceed the cost of
      reproducing and supplying the copy or phonorecord in question, to
      be paid into a specially designated fund in the Library of
      Congress.
        (3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require
      the making or retention, for purposes of deposit, of any copy or
      phonorecord of an unpublished transmission program, the
      transmission of which occurs before the receipt of a specific
      written demand as provided by clause (2).
        (4) No activity undertaken in compliance with regulations
      prescribed under clauses (1) or (2) of this subsection shall
      result in liability if intended solely to assist in the
      acquisition of copies or phonorecords under this subsection.



Previous [Notes] Next

Related Resources

Copyright Law Guide

Copyright and Fair Use Site

Copyright Law Summary

Intellectual Property Discussion

Ads by FindLaw