PUBLIC LAW 94-553—OCT. 19, 1976
90 STAT. 2573
the copyright in the work endures for the term specified by subsection (a) or (b), based on the life of the author or authors whose identity has been revealed. Any person h a v i n g an interest in the copyright in an anonymous or pseudonymous work may at any time record, i n records to be maintained by the Copyright Office for that purpose, a statement identifying one or more authors of the work; the statement shall also identify the person filing it, the nature of that person's interest, the source of the information recorded, and the particular work affected, and shall comply in form and content with requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation. (d) RECORDS RELATING TO D E A T H OF A U T H O R S. — Any person h a v i n g
an interest in a copyright may at any time record in the Copyright Office a statement of the date of death of the author of the copyrighted work, or a statement that the author is still living on a particular date. The statement shall identify the person filing it, the n a t u r e of that person's interest, and the source of the information recorded, and shall comply i n form and content with requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation. The Recordkeeping. Register shall maintain current records of information relating to the death of authors of copyrighted works, based on such recorded statements and, to the extent the Register considers practicable, on data contained in any of the records of the Copyright Office or i n other reference sources. (e) PRESUMPTION AS TO A U T H O R ' S D E A T H. — After
a
period
of
seventy-five years from the year of first publication of a work, or a period of one hundred years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first, any person who obtains from the Copyright Office a certified report that the records provided by subsection (d) disclose nothing to indicate that the author of the work is living, or died less than fifty je&rs before, is entitled to the benefit of a presumption that the author has been dead for a t least fifty years. Reliance in good faith upon this presumption shall be a complete defense to any action for infringement under this title. § 303. Duration of copyright: Works created but not published or 17 USC 303. copyrighted before January 1, 1978 Copyright in a work created before January 1, 1978, but not theretofore in the public domain or copyrighted, subsists from January 1, 1978, and endures for the term provided by section 302. I n no case, however, shall the term of copyright in such a work expire before December 31, 2002; and, if the work is published on or before December 31, 2002, the term of copyright shall not expire before December 31, 2027. § 304. Duration of copyright: Subsisting copyrights (a) COPYRIGHTS I N THE I R F I R S T T E R M ON J A N U A R Y 1, 1978.—Any
copyright, the first term of which is subsisting on January 1, 1978, shall endure for twenty-eight years from the date it was originally secured: Provided, That in the case of any posthumous work or of any periodical, cyclopedic, or other composite work upon which the copyright was originally secured by the proprietor thereof, or of any work copyrighted by a corporate body (otherwise than as assignee or licensee of the individual author) or by an employer for whom such work is made for hire, the proprietor of such copyright shall be entitled to a renewal and extension of the copyright in such work for the further term of forty-seven years when application for such renewal and extension shall have been made to the Copyright Office and duly registered therein within one year prior to the expiration of the original term of copyright: And provided further, That i n the case of any other
17 USC 304.
�
