§ 404. — Notice of copyright: Contributions to collective works.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 17USC404]
TITLE 17--COPYRIGHTS
CHAPTER 4--COPYRIGHT NOTICE, DEPOSIT, AND REGISTRATION
Sec. 404. Notice of copyright: Contributions to collective works
(a) A separate contribution to a collective work may bear its own
notice of copyright, as provided by sections 401 through 403. However, a
single notice applicable to the collective work as a whole is sufficient
to invoke the provisions of section 401(d) or 402(d), as applicable with
respect to the separate contributions it contains (not including
advertisements inserted on behalf of persons other than the owner of
copyright in the collective work), regardless of the ownership of
copyright in the contributions and whether or not they have been
previously published.
(b) With respect to copies and phonorecords publicly distributed by
authority of the copyright owner before the effective date of the Berne
Convention Implementation Act of 1988, where the person named in a
single notice applicable to a collective work as a whole is not the
owner of copyright in a separate contribution that does not bear its own
notice, the case is governed by the provisions of section 406(a).
(Pub. L. 94-553, title I, Sec. 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2577; Pub.
L. 100-568, Sec. 7(d), Oct. 31, 1988, 102 Stat. 2858.)
Historical and Revision Notes
house report no. 94-1476
In conjunction with the provisions of section 201(c), section 404
deals with a troublesome problem under the present law: the notice
requirements applicable to contributions published in periodicals and
other collective works. The basic approach of the section is threefold:
(1) To permit but not require a separate contribution to bear
its own notice;
(2) To make a single notice, covering the collective work as a
whole, sufficient to satisfy the notice requirement for the separate
contributions it contains, even if they have been previously
published or their ownership is different; and
(3) To protect the interests of an innocent infringer of
copyright in a contribution that does not bear its own notice, who
has dealt in good faith with the person named in the notice covering
the collective work as a whole.
As a general rule, under this section, the rights in an individual
contribution to a collective work would not be affected by the lack of a
separate copyright notice, as long as the collective work as a whole
bears a notice. One exception to this rule would apply to
``advertisements inserted on behalf of persons other than the owner of
copyright in the collective work.'' Collective works, notably newspapers
and magazines, are major advertising media, and it is common for the
same advertisement to be published in a number of different periodicals.
The general copyright notice in a particular issue would not ordinarily
protect the advertisements inserted in it, and relatively little
advertising matter today is published with a separate copyright notice.
The exception in section 404(a), under which separate notices would be
required for most advertisements published in collective works, would
impose no undue burdens on copyright owners and is justified by the
special circumstances.
Under section 404(b) a separate contribution that does not bear its
own notice, and that is published in a collective work with a general
notice containing the name of someone other than the copyright owner of
the contribution, is treated as if it has been published with the wrong
name in the notice. The case is governed by section 406(a), which means
that an innocent infringer who in good faith took a license from the
person named in the general notice would be shielded from liability to
some extent.
References in Text
The effective date of the Berne Convention Implementation Act of
1988, referred to in subsec. (b), is Mar. 1, 1989, see section 13 of
Pub. L. 100-568, set out as an Effective Date of 1988 Amendment note
under section 101 of this title.
Amendments
1988--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100-568, Sec. 7(d)(1), substituted ``to
invoke the provisions of section 401(d) or 402(d), as applicable'' for
``to satisfy the requirements of sections 401 through 403''.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 100-568, Sec. 7(d)(2), substituted ``With
respect to copies and phonorecords publicly distributed by authority of
the copyright owner before the effective date of the Berne Convention
Implementation Act of 1988, where'' for ``Where''.
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 100-568 effective Mar. 1, 1989, with any cause
of action arising under this title before such date being governed by
provisions in effect when cause of action arose, see section 13 of Pub.
L. 100-568, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.
