| abstract | - Although copyright registration is not required, the 1976 Copyright Act establishes a mandatory deposit (also called legal deposit) requirement for works published in the United States. Works first published before March 1, 1989, are subject to mandatory deposit if they were published in the United States with copyright notice. Under the Copyright Act of 1976, the owner of copyright, or of the exclusive right of publication, in a work published in the United States is required to deposit two complete copies (or, in the case of sound recordings, two phonorecords) of the best edition of the work with the Copyright Office for the use or disposition of the Library of Congress. The deposit is to be made within three months after such publication. Failure to make the required deposit does not affect copyright in the work, but it may subject the copyright owner to fines and other monetary liability if the owner fails to comply after a demand for deposit is made by the Register of Copyrights. These general provisions, however, are subject to limitations. For example, Section 407 provides that 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." The law provides the Library of Congress with an opportunity to acquire the deposit copies, but it does not require the Library to acquire them, or to preserve them. Rights holders are required to deposit works for the Library regardless of whether they register the copyright, but if they do register, the copies submitted with registration application can serve as the deposit copies. Deposits made in connection with registration that are not selected by the Library are retained by the Copyright Office] “for the longest period considered practical and desirable by the Register of Copyrights and the Librarian of Congress.” After that period they may, in their joint discretion, order the disposal or other disposition of copies of published works. Certain categories of works are exempt entirely from the mandatory deposit requirements, and the Register may also require only one copy of the work or allow alternative forms of deposit.
|
