17 U.S.C. § 407 — Deposit of copies or phonorecords for Library of Congress
submitted 50 years ago by Pub. L. 94-553 to r/title-17-COPYRIGHTS · 838 words · no verdicts yet
Anyone who publishes a copyrighted work in the U.S. must send two copies to the Copyright Office within three months, for the Library of Congress. Missing a formal demand for those copies can bring fines. This deposit rule is separate from copyright protection itself, which does not depend on it.
This section requires publishers to deposit copies* of their work with the Library of Congress.
(a) The owner of the copyright, or of the exclusive right to publish a work in the United States, must deposit either two complete copies of the best edition, or, for a sound recording, two complete phonorecords* of the best edition plus any printed material published with them. This must happen within three months of publication. This rule has exceptions under subsection (c) and is subject to subsection (e). Importantly, failing to deposit copies does not cost someone their copyright — the deposit rule and the rules in subsection (e) are not conditions of copyright protection.
(b) The copies or phonorecords go to the Copyright Office, for the Library of Congress to use or dispose of. If the person depositing them asks, and pays the fee set by section 708, the Register of Copyrights must give them a receipt.
(c) The Register of Copyrights can make regulations exempting some categories of material from the deposit rule, or requiring only one copy instead of two. These regulations must either fully exempt the material or offer an alternative way to deposit it that avoids financial or practical hardship — this applies where an individual artist owns the copyright in a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work, and either fewer than five copies have been published, or the work is a limited numbered edition so valuable that depositing two copies would be an unfair burden.
(d) After a work is published, the Register of Copyrights can send a written demand for the deposit to anyone who owes it under subsection (a). If the deposit isn't made within three months of that demand, the person faces: (1) a fine of up to $250 per work; (2) a requirement to pay into a special Library of Congress fund the retail price of the copies demanded, or, if there's no set retail price, the Library's reasonable cost to acquire them; and (3) if the person willfully or repeatedly refuses to comply, an additional fine of $2,500 on top of (1) and (2).
(e) This subsection covers unpublished transmission programs — things fixed and broadcast to the public but never published. The Register of Copyrights, after consulting the Librarian of Congress and other interested parties, must write regulations for how the Library acquires copies of these programs. (1) Those regulations may let the Librarian of Congress record a transmission directly off the air and make one archival copy. (2) The regulations must also let the Register demand a copy or phonorecord of a specific transmission program from the owner of its U.S. transmission rights. That owner can satisfy the demand by gift, by loan for copying, or by sale at no more than the cost of reproduction. The regulations must give at least three months to comply, with room for extensions or adjustments as circumstances warrant. If the rights owner willfully or repeatedly fails to comply, they can be held liable for an amount up to the cost of reproducing and supplying the copy, paid into the same special Library fund. (3) Nothing here requires anyone to make or keep a copy of an unpublished transmission program before they actually receive a specific written demand. (4) No one is liable for actions taken to comply with the regulations under (1) or (2), as long as those actions were meant solely to help the Library acquire copies.
Except as provided by subsection (c), and subject to the provisions of subsection (e), the owner of copyright or of the exclusive right of publication in a work published in the United States shall deposit, within three months after the date of such publication—
two complete copies* of the best edition; or
if the work is a sound recording, two complete phonorecords* of the best edition, together with any printed or other visually perceptible material published with such phonorecords.
Neither the deposit requirements of this subsection nor the acquisition provisions of subsection (e) are conditions of copyright protection.
The required copies or phonorecords shall be deposited in the Copyright Office for the use or disposition of the Library of Congress. The Register of Copyrights shall, when requested by the depositor and upon payment of the fee prescribed by section 708, issue a receipt for the deposit.
The Register of Copyrights may by regulation exempt any categories of material from the deposit requirements of this section, or require deposit of only one copy or phonorecord with respect to any categories. Such regulations shall provide either for complete exemption from the deposit requirements of this section, or for alternative forms of deposit aimed at providing a satisfactory archival record of a work without imposing practical or financial hardships on the depositor, where the individual author is the owner of copyright in a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work and (i) less than five copies of the work have been published, or (ii) the work has been published in a limited edition consisting of numbered copies, the monetary value of which would make the mandatory deposit of two copies of the best edition of the work burdensome, unfair, or unreasonable.
At any time after publication of a work as provided by subsection (a), the Register of Copyrights may make written demand for the required deposit on any of the persons obligated to make the deposit under subsection (a). Unless deposit is made within three months after the demand is received, the person or persons on whom the demand was made are liable—
to a fine of not more than $250 for each work; and
to pay into a specially designated fund in the Library of Congress the total retail price of the copies or phonorecords demanded, or, if no retail price has been fixed, the reasonable cost to the Library of Congress of acquiring them; and
to pay a fine of $2,500, in addition to any fine or liability imposed under clauses (1) and (2), if such person willfully or repeatedly fails or refuses to comply with such a demand.
With respect to transmission programs that have been fixed and transmitted to the public in the United States but have not been published, the Register of Copyrights shall, after consulting with the Librarian of Congress and other interested organizations and officials, establish regulations governing the acquisition, through deposit or otherwise, of copies or phonorecords of such programs for the collections of the Library of Congress.
The Librarian of Congress shall be permitted, under the standards and conditions set forth in such regulations, to make a fixation of a transmission program directly from a transmission to the public, and to reproduce one copy or phonorecord from such fixation for archival purposes.
Such regulations shall also provide standards and procedures by which the Register of Copyrights may make written demand, upon the owner of the right of transmission in the United States, for the deposit of a copy or phonorecord of a specific transmission program. Such deposit may, at the option of the owner of the right of transmission in the United States, be accomplished by gift, by loan for purposes of reproduction, or by sale at a price not to exceed the cost of reproducing and supplying the copy or phonorecord. The regulations established under this clause shall provide reasonable periods of not less than three months for compliance with a demand, and shall allow for extensions of such periods and adjustments in the scope of the demand or the methods for fulfilling it, as reasonably warranted by the circumstances. Willful failure or refusal to comply with the conditions prescribed by such regulations shall subject the owner of the right of transmission in the United States to liability for an amount, not to exceed the cost of reproducing and supplying the copy or phonorecord in question, to be paid into a specially designated fund in the Library of Congress.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require the making or retention, for purposes of deposit, of any copy or phonorecord of an unpublished transmission program, the transmission of which occurs before the receipt of a specific written demand as provided by clause (2).
No activity undertaken in compliance with regulations prescribed under clauses (1) or (2) of this subsection shall result in liability if intended solely to assist in the acquisition of copies or phonorecords under this subsection.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2579; Pub. L. 100–568, § 8, Oct. 31, 1988, 102 Stat. 2859; Pub. L. 105–80, § 12(a)(11), Nov. 13, 1997, 111 Stat. 1535.)
- 1976Enacted · Pub. L. 94-553 · 90 Stat. 2579
- 1988Amended · Pub. L. 100-568 · 102 Stat. 2859
- 1997Amended · Pub. L. 105-80 · 111 Stat. 1535
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 94-553 on 1976-10-19.
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