17 U.S.C. § 301 — Preemption with respect to other laws

(a) Starting January 1, 1978, federal copyright law exclusively governs any legal or equitable right that is equivalent to one of the exclusive rights listed in section 106, for a work that is fixed in a tangible medium of expression and falls within copyright's subject matter under sections 102 and 103 — no matter when the work was created and whether it is published or unpublished. After that date, no one may claim such a right, or an equivalent right, under any State's common law or statutes. (b) This title does not cancel or limit any right or remedy under a State's common law or statutes for (1) subject matter that does not fall within copyright's subject matter under sections 102 and 103, including works of authorship not fixed in any tangible medium of expression; (2) a cause of action arising from undertakings that began before January 1, 1978; (3) activities that violate legal or equitable rights not equivalent to the exclusive rights in section 106; or (4) State and local landmark, historic preservation, zoning, or building code laws relating to architectural works protected under section 102(a)(8). (c) Despite section 303, and in accordance with chapter 14, a sound recording fixed before February 15, 1972, is not subject to copyright under this title. For those pre-1972 sound recordings, subsection (a)'s preemption applies to activities begun on or after the Classics Protection and Access Act became law. Nothing in this subsection settles whether State-law rights and remedies for the nonsubscription broadcast transmission of such sound recordings are preempted, for activities that do not qualify as covered activities under chapter 14 and that occur between the Act's enactment date and the date the prohibition on unauthorized acts under section 1401(a)(2) expires for those recordings. Any preemption question for such activities during that period applies exactly as it did the day before the Act's enactment. (d) This title does not cancel or limit any rights or remedies under any other federal statute. (e) Federal preemption under this section is not affected by the United States joining the Berne Convention or meeting its obligations under it. (f)(1) Starting on the effective date set in section 610(a) of the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, federal law — specifically section 106A, section 113(d), and related provisions of this title — exclusively governs any legal or equitable right equivalent to the rights conferred by section 106A for works of visual art that section 106A covers. After that date, no one may claim such a right, or an equivalent right, under a State's common law or statutes. (f)(2) Paragraph (1) does not cancel or limit any right or remedy under a State's common law or statutes for (A) a cause of action arising from undertakings that began before the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990's effective date; (B) activities that violate legal or equitable rights not equivalent to the rights conferred by section 106A for works of visual art; or (C) activities that violate legal or equitable rights extending beyond the life of the author.