first publication of the work. For guidance in identifying the author's nationality or domicile, see Chapter 600, Section 617. For guidance in identifying the nation of first publication, see Chapter 600, Section 612.
Generally, the U.S. Copyright Office will not accept an application that lists a territory or other political subdivision, rather than the name of the nation itself.
Examples of acceptable statements:
• Great Britain
• England
• Wales
• France
• French
• Switzerland
• Swiss
Examples of unacceptable statements:
• British Protected Person
• Commonwealth Citizen
• Worldwide
• Internet
Previously, U.S. federal copyright protection was not automatic upon fixation, as it is now. Instead, copyright owners needed to take certain steps, such as including specific copyright notices on works and renewing their registrations at particular times. These types of requirements generally are called "formalities" and they applied to both U.S. and foreign works.
In 1978, the current Copyright Act went into effect and eliminated some of these requirements. Later, the United States became a member of the Berne Convention and enacted the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, Pub. L. No. 103-465, 108 Stat. 4809 (codified in scattered sections of the U.S.C.] [1994] ("URAA"), which implemented the United States' obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Properly Rights. This further relaxed some of the Copyright Act's more restrictive provisions and provided copyright protection for many works that may not have been eligible for protection under prior law.
As part of this process, foreign works that previously did not warrant U.S. copyright protection because of a failure to comply with formalities were "restored" by the URAA in 1994. In other words, the URAA provided retroactive copyright protection to many foreign works that were not eligible for protection under prior law.
2007
Restored Works
2007.1
What Is a Restored Work?
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