PUBLIC LAW 105-304—OCT. 28, 1998
112 STAT. 2903
"CHAPTER 180—ASSUMPTION OF CERTAIN
CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
"Sec. 4001. Assumption of contractual obligations related to transfers of rights in
motion pictures.
"§4001. Assumption of contractual obligations related to
transfers of rights in motion pictures
"(a) ASSUMPTION OF OBLIGATIONS.—<1) In the case of a transfer
of copyright ownership under United States law in a motion picture
(as the terms 'transfer of copyright ownership' and 'motion picture'
are defined in section 101 of title 17) that is produced subject
to 1 or more collective bargaining agreements negotiated under
the laws of the United States, if the transfer is executed on or
after the effective date of this chapter and is not limited to public
performance rights, the transfer instrument shall be deemed to
incorporate the assumption agreements applicable to the copyright
ownership being transferred that are required by the applicable
collective bargaining agreement, and the transferee shall be subject
to the obligations under each such assumption agreement to make
residual payments and provide related notices, accruing after the
effective date of the transfer and applicable to the exploitation
of the rights transferred, and any remedies under each such
assumption agreement for breach of those obligations, as those
obligations and remedies are set forth in the applicable collective
bargaining agreement, if—
"(A) the transferee knows or has reason to know at the
time of the transfer that such collective bargaining agreement
was or will be applicable to the motion picture; or
"(B) in the event of a court order confirming an arbitration
award against the transferor under the collective bargaining
agreement, the transferor does not have the financial ability
to satisfy the award within 90 days after the order is issued.
"(2) For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), 'knows or has reason
to know' means any of the following:
"(A) Actual knowledge that the collective bargaining agreement was or will be applicable to the motion picture.
"(B)(i) Constructive knowledge that the collective bargaining agreement was or will be applicable to the motion picture,
arising from recordation of a document pertaining to copyright
in the motion picture under section 205 of title 17 or from
publication, at a site available to the public on-line that is
operated by the relevant union, of information that identifies
the motion picture as subject to a collective bargaining agreement with that union, if the site permits commercially reasonable verification of the date on which the information was
available for access.
"(ii) Clause (i) applies only if the transfer referred to in Applicability,
subsection (a)(1) occurs—
"(I) after the motion picture is completed, or
"(II) before the motion picture is completed and—
"(aa) within 18 months before the filing of an
application for copyright registration for the motion
picture under section 408 of title 17, or
"(bb) if no such application is filed, within 18
months before the first publication of the motion picture in the United States.
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