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Existing compulsory licenses for mechanical reproduction of music
As already explained in connection with section 115, the bill would preserve the general principle of a compulsory license for the mechanical reproduction of copyrighted music, but with a great many changes in specific features. Section 106 is a transitional provision dealing with the status of compulsory licenses that have already been obtained when the new law becomes effective. In general it would permit the compulsory licensee to “continue to make and distribute such parts [i.e., phonorecords] embodying the same mechanical reproduction [i.e., sound recording] without obtaining a new compulsory license.” However, any new “mechanical reproduction” would be fully subject to the provisions of section 115 and, even where the earlier sound recording is reproduced, any phonorecords made after January 1, 1978 would be subject to the provisions of the revised statute as to royalty rate, methods of payment, and consequences of default.
Ad interim copyrights
As an exception to the manufacturing requirements, sections 22 and 23 of the present statute provide a special procedure under which, if registration is made within 6 months after publication, a temporary or “ad interim” copyright can be secured for 5 years. The “ad interim” time limits and procedures have been dropped from the manufacturing provisions of section 601 of the bill, and Sec. 107 therefore deals with the transitional case of “any work in which ad interim copyright is subsisting or is capable of being secured on December 31, 1977.” Where a work is already covered by an ad interim copyright or, having been published during the last 6 months of 1977, the work is eligible for ad interim registration on that date, its copyright protection is automatically extended to the full term provided by section 304.
Notice in copies of previously published works
Since the notice requirements of the new statute are different and, with respect to the year date, more inclusive that those of the present law, a transitional provision is needed to cover works first published before the effective date of the revised law. Sec. 108 makes clear that, as a general rule, the notice provisions of the new law apply to “all copies or phonorecords publicly distributed after January 1, 1978,” but adds that, in the case of a work published before that date, “compliance with the notice provisions of title 17 either as it existed on December 31, 1977, or as amended by the first section of this Act, is adequate with respect to copies publicly distributed after December 31, 1977.”
Registration and recordation with respect to subsisting copyrights
Sec. 109 of the transitional and supplementary provisions makes clear that registration and recordation on the basis of materials received in the Copyright Office before the effective date of the new law are to be made under the present law, even though the process is completed after January 1, 1978. Where the Register of Copyrights makes a demand, either before or after the effective date of the new law, for deposit of copies published before that date, Sec. 110 provides that the demand, and the effect of noncompliance with it, will be governed by the present statute; however, any deposit, application, and fee received after December 31, 1977, in response to the demand are to be filed in accordance with revised statute.
Several provisions of the bill, including sections 205(c)(2), 205(d), 405(a)(2), 406(a)(1), 406(a)(2), 411, and 412, prescribe registration
