17 U.S.C. § 412 — Registration as prerequisite to certain remedies for infringement
submitted 50 years ago by Pub. L. 94-553 to r/title-17-COPYRIGHTS · 161 words · no verdicts yet
This law limits copyright remedies when a work wasn't registered in time. Owners can't get statutory damages or attorney's fees for infringement that started before registration. An exception applies if the work was registered within three months of publication.
No award of statutory damages or attorney's fees (the kind allowed under sections 504 and 505) is available for:
(1) infringing an unpublished work, if the infringement started before the work's copyright registration became effective; or
(2) infringing a work after it was first published but before its registration became effective — unless the work was registered within three months after it was first published.
This limit does not apply to: lawsuits about violations of an author's rights under section 106A(a) (an author's right to be credited and to object to distortion of their work); infringement of a work that was "preregistered" under section 408(f) before the infringement began, as long as the work's registration became effective by the earlier of three months after first publication or one month after the copyright owner learned of the infringement; or lawsuits brought under section 411(c) (covering certain live broadcasts).
In any action under this title, other than an action brought for a violation of the rights of the author under section 106A(a), an action for infringement of the copyright of a work that has been preregistered under section 408(f) before the commencement of the infringement and that has an effective date of registration not later than the earlier of 3 months after the first publication of the work or 1 month after the copyright owner has learned of the infringement, or an action instituted under section 411(c), no award of statutory damages or of attorney’s fees, as provided by sections 504 and 505, shall be made for—
any infringement of copyright in an unpublished work commenced before the effective date of its registration; or
any infringement of copyright commenced after first publication of the work and before the effective date of its registration, unless such registration is made within three months after the first publication of the work.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2583; Pub. L. 101–650, title VI, § 606(c)(2), Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5131; Pub. L. 109–9, title I, § 104(c), Apr. 27, 2005, 119 Stat. 222; Pub. L. 110–403, title I, § 101(b)(1), Oct. 13, 2008, 122 Stat. 4258.)
- 1976Enacted · Pub. L. 94-553 · 90 Stat. 2583
- 1990Amended · Pub. L. 101-650 · 104 Stat. 5131
- 2005Amended · Pub. L. 109-9 · 119 Stat. 222
- 2008Amended · Pub. L. 110-403 · 122 Stat. 4258
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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