§ 901. — Definitions.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 17USC901]
TITLE 17--COPYRIGHTS
CHAPTER 9--PROTECTION OF SEMICONDUCTOR CHIP PRODUCTS
Sec. 901. Definitions
(a) As used in this chapter--
(1) a ``semiconductor chip product'' is the final or
intermediate form of any product--
(A) having two or more layers of metallic, insulating, or
semiconductor material, deposited or otherwise placed on, or
etched away or otherwise removed from, a piece of semiconductor
material in accordance with a predetermined pattern; and
(B) intended to perform electronic circuitry functions;
(2) a ``mask work'' is a series of related images, however fixed
or encoded--
(A) having or representing the predetermined, three-
dimensional pattern of metallic, insulating, or semiconductor
material present or removed from the layers of a semiconductor
chip product; and
(B) in which series the relation of the images to one
another is that each image has the pattern of the surface of one
form of the semiconductor chip product;
(3) a mask work is ``fixed'' in a semiconductor chip product
when its embodiment in the product is sufficiently permanent or
stable to permit the mask work to be perceived or reproduced from
the product for a period of more than transitory duration;
(4) to ``distribute'' means to sell, or to lease, bail, or
otherwise transfer, or to offer to sell, lease, bail, or otherwise
transfer;
(5) to ``commercially exploit'' a mask work is to distribute to
the public for commercial purposes a semiconductor chip product
embodying the mask work; except that such term includes an offer to
sell or transfer a semiconductor chip product only when the offer is
in writing and occurs after the mask work is fixed in the
semiconductor chip product;
(6) the ``owner'' of a mask work is the person who created the
mask work, the legal representative of that person if that person is
deceased or under a legal incapacity, or a party to whom all the
rights under this chapter of such person or representative are
transferred in accordance with section 903(b); except that, in the
case of a work made within the scope of a person's employment, the
owner is the employer for whom the person created the mask work or a
party to whom all the rights under this chapter of the employer are
transferred in accordance with section 903(b);
(7) an ``innocent purchaser'' is a person who purchases a
semiconductor chip product in good faith and without having notice
of protection with respect to the semiconductor chip product;
(8) having ``notice of protection'' means having actual
knowledge that, or reasonable grounds to believe that, a mask work
is protected under this chapter; and
(9) an ``infringing semiconductor chip product'' is a
semiconductor chip product which is made, imported, or distributed
in violation of the exclusive rights of the owner of a mask work
under this chapter.
(b) For purposes of this chapter, the distribution or importation of
a product incorporating a semiconductor chip product as a part thereof
is a distribution or importation of that semiconductor chip product.
(Added Pub. L. 98-620, title III, Sec. 302, Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat.
3347.)
Authorization of Appropriations
Section 304 of title III of Pub. L. 98-620 provided that: ``There
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry
out the purposes of this title and the amendments made by this title
[enacting this chapter].''
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in title 11 section 101.
