§ 202. — Ownership of copyright as distinct from ownership of material object.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 17USC202]
TITLE 17--COPYRIGHTS
CHAPTER 2--COPYRIGHT OWNERSHIP AND TRANSFER
Sec. 202. Ownership of copyright as distinct from ownership of
material object
Ownership of a copyright, or of any of the exclusive rights under a
copyright, is distinct from ownership of any material object in which
the work is embodied. Transfer of ownership of any material object,
including the copy or phonorecord in which the work is first fixed, does
not of itself convey any rights in the copyrighted work embodied in the
object; nor, in the absence of an agreement, does transfer of ownership
of a copyright or of any exclusive rights under a copyright convey
property rights in any material object.
(Pub. L. 94-553, title I, Sec. 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2568.)
Historical and Revision Notes
house report no. 94-1476
The principle restated in section 202 is a fundamental and important
one: that copyright ownership and ownership of a material object in
which the copyrighted work is embodied are entirely separate things.
Thus, transfer of a material object does not of itself carry any rights
under the copyright, and this includes transfer of the copy or
phonorecord--the original manuscript, the photographic negative, the
unique painting or statue, the master tape recording, etc.--in which the
work was first fixed. Conversely, transfer of a copyright does not
necessarily require the conveyance of any material object.
As a result of the interaction of this section and the provisions of
section 204(a) and 301, the bill would change a common law doctrine
exemplified by the decision in Pushman v. New York Graphic Society,
Inc., 287 N.Y. 302, 39 N.E.2d 249 (1942). Under that doctrine, authors
or artists are generally presumed to transfer common law literary
property rights when they sell their manuscript or work of art, unless
those rights are specifically reserved. This presumption would be
reversed under the bill, since a specific written conveyance of rights
would be required in order for a sale of any material object to carry
with it a transfer of copyright.
