17 U.S.C. § 104 — Subject matter of copyright: National origin

(a) Unpublished Works. Works described in sections 102 and 103, while still unpublished, are protected under this title no matter the author's nationality or where the author lives. (b) Published Works. Once published, those same works are protected under this title if any one of these is true: (1) On the date of first publication, at least one author is a U.S. national or resident, a national or resident of a treaty-party country, a sovereign authority of a treaty party, or a stateless person (wherever they live); (2) The work is first published in the United States or in a country that is a treaty party on that date; (3) The work is a sound recording first fixed in a treaty-party country; (4) The work is a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work built into a building, or is an architectural work embodied in a building, located in the United States or a treaty party; (5) The work is first published by the United Nations, one of its agencies, or the Organization of American States; or (6) The work falls under a presidential proclamation. The President can issue such a proclamation extending U.S. copyright protection to a foreign nation's authors or works, if that nation gives U.S. authors and works the same kind of protection it gives its own. The President may revise, suspend, or cancel such a proclamation, or attach conditions to it. Also, if a work is published in the U.S. or a treaty party within 30 days after being published in a non-treaty foreign country, it counts as first published in the U.S. or that treaty party. (c) Effect of the Berne Convention. No one can claim any right in a work under this title simply because of the Berne Convention or the fact that the U.S. joined it. Any rights that already exist under this title, other federal or state law, or common law are not expanded or reduced by the Berne Convention or the U.S. joining it. (d) Effect of Phonograms Treaties. Despite subsection (b), only sound recordings — no other kind of work — can become protected under this title purely because the U.S. joined the Geneva Phonograms Convention or the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.