Laws: Cases and Codes : U.S. Code : Title 17 : Section 704


   
U.S. Code as of: 01/19/04
Section 704. Retention and disposition of articles deposited in Copyright Office

      (a) Upon their deposit in the Copyright Office under sections 407
    and 408, all copies, phonorecords, and identifying material,
    including those deposited in connection with claims that have been
    refused registration, are the property of the United States
    Government.
      (b) In the case of published works, all copies, phonorecords, and
    identifying material deposited are available to the Library of
    Congress for its collections, or for exchange or transfer to any
    other library. In the case of unpublished works, the Library is
    entitled, under regulations that the Register of Copyrights shall
    prescribe, to select any deposits for its collections or for
    transfer to the National Archives of the United States or to a
    Federal records center, as defined in section 2901 of title 44.
      (c) The Register of Copyrights is authorized, for specific or
    general categories of works, to make a facsimile reproduction of
    all or any part of the material deposited under section 408, and to
    make such reproduction a part of the Copyright Office records of
    the registration, before transferring such material to the Library
    of Congress as provided by subsection (b), or before destroying or
    otherwise disposing of such material as provided by subsection (d).
      (d) Deposits not selected by the Library under subsection (b), or
    identifying portions or reproductions of them, shall be retained
    under the control of the Copyright Office, including retention in
    Government storage facilities, for the longest period considered
    practicable and desirable by the Register of Copyrights and the
    Librarian of Congress. After that period it is within the joint
    discretion of the Register and the Librarian to order their
    destruction or other disposition; but, in the case of unpublished
    works, no deposit shall be knowingly or intentionally destroyed or
    otherwise disposed of during its term of copyright unless a
    facsimile reproduction of the entire deposit has been made a part
    of the Copyright Office records as provided by subsection (c).
      (e) The depositor of copies, phonorecords, or identifying
    material under section 408, or the copyright owner of record, may
    request retention, under the control of the Copyright Office, of
    one or more of such articles for the full term of copyright in the
    work. The Register of Copyrights shall prescribe, by regulation,
    the conditions under which such requests are to be made and
    granted, and shall fix the fee to be charged under section
    708(a)(10) if the request is granted.



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