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ten instrument signed by the owner of the rights licensed or his duly authorized agent, and if:
- (1) the license was taken before execution of the transfer; or
- (2) the license was taken in good faith before recordation of the transfer and without notice of it.
Chapter 3.—DURATION OF COPYRIGHT
Sec.
- Pre-emption with respect to other laws.
- Duration of copyright: Works created on or after January 1, 1977.
- Duration of copyright: Works created but not published or copyrighted before January 1, 1977.
- Duration of copyright: Subsisting copyrights.
- Terminal date.
§ 301. Pre-emption with respect to other laws
(a) On and after January 1, 1977, all legal or equitable rights that are equivalent to any of the exclusive rights within the general scope of copyright as specified by section 106 in works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible medium of expression and come within the subject matter of copyright as specified by sections 102 and 103, whether created before or after that date and whether published or unpublished, are governed exclusively by this title. Thereafter, no person is entitled to any such right or equivalent right in any such work under the common law or statutes of any State.
(b) Nothing in this title annuls or limits any rights or remedies under the common law or statutes of any State with respect to:
- (1) subject matter that does not come within the subject matter of copyright as specified by sections 102 and 103, including works of authorship not fixed in any tangible medium of expression; or
- (2) any cause of action arising from undertakings commenced before January 1, 1977; or
- (3) activities violating legal or equitable rights that are not equivalent to any of the exclusive rights within the general scope of copyright as specified by section 106, including rights against misappropriation not equivalent to any of such exclusive rights, breaches of contract, breaches of trust, trespass, conversion, invasion of privacy, defamation, and deceptive trade practices such as passing off and false representation; or
- (4) sound recordings fixed prior to February 15, 1972.
(c) Nothing in this title annuls or limits any rights or remedies under any other Federal statute.
§ 302. Duration of copyright: Works created on or after January 1, 1977
(a) In General.—Copyright in a work created on or after January 1, 1977, subsists from its creation and, except as provided by the following subsections, endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and fifty years after his death.
(b) Joint Works.—In the case of a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire, the copyright endures for a term consisting of the life of the last surviving author and fifty years after his death.
(c) Anonymous Works, Pseudonymous Works, and Works Made for Hire.—In the case of an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire, the copyright endures for a term of seventy-five years from the year of its first publication, or a term of one hundred years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first. If, before the end of such term, the identity of one or more of the authors of an anonymous or pseudonymous work is revealed in the records of a registration made for that work under subsection (a) or (d) of section 407, or in the records provided by this subsection, 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 having an interest in the copyright in an anonymous or pseudonymous work may at any time record, in 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 his interest, the source of his information, 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 Death of Authors.—Any person having an interest in a copyright may at any time record in the Copyright Office a statement of
