U.S. Copyright Law and Legislation

• General Resources on Copyright Law
• Statutes
• Regulations
• Court Cases
• Treaties and Conventions
• Recently Enacted Laws
• Pending Laws and Legislation

This page provides access to historical, current, and pending laws governing copyright in the United States. These laws include the following:

• General statutes legislated by Congress
• More specific regulations promulgated by the U.S. Copyright Office to explain how the statutes are to be carried out
• Opinions issued by judges in the U.S. court system to interpret the meaning of obscure statutes and regulations
• International treaties and conventions entered into by the United States to coordinate our copyright laws with those of other nations

General Resources on Copyright Law

Law and Policy (U.S. Copyright Office)

Compilation of statutes, regulations, court cases, and other documents that explain current copyright law and pending legislation.

Nimmer on Copyright: A Treatise on the Law of Literary, Musical and Artistic Property, and the Protection of Ideas, by Melville B. Nimmer, David Nimmer. (M. Bender)
Available in General Reference on 1st Floor of Willis Library, Call Number KF2991.5.N5 1963

This authoritative source contains thorough discussions on virtually every legal issue concerning U.S. and international copyright law.

Statutes

Copyright Law of the United States of America (U.S. Copyright Office)
Available in Government Documents Reference Section, Call Number LC 3.4/2:92

Current copyright law as contained in Title 17 of the U.S. Code, with certain amendments.

Title 17, U.S. Code - Copyrights (Cornell University)

The main U.S. federal statute related to copyright.

The Copyright Law of the United States of America (CopyrightData)

This database enables you to retrieve the full text of all historic versions of the Copyright Act of the United States from the 1909 Act to the present.

Full Text of Copyright Law Amendments (Copyright Data)

This page allows you to view any or all laws passed by the United States Congress that amended the Copyright Act of the United States.

Regulations

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Title 37, Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter II - Copyright Office, Library of Congress (Cornell University)

U.S. federal regulations related to copyright.

Copyright Office Announcements and Federal Register Notices (U.S. Copyright Office)

The latest decisions and updates to the federal regulations.

Rulemaking Proceedings (U.S. Copyright Office)

Changes in the regulations are made through a process called rulemaking. When proposing a new ruling, the Copyright Office will publish the proposal in the Federal Register and request comments from the public. Sometimes there will be hearings or roundtable discussions. This page provides access to much of the public commentary that is made on a pending new regulation.

Court Cases

Case decisions interpreting the copyright statutes and regulations clarify certain aspects of the law. Much of the law of copyright is vague or ambiguous, and in many cases it is not clear even to experienced lawyers how a certain law is to be applied until one party challenges another party’s interpretation in a court of law.

Decisions of the United States Courts Involving Copyright (Available in Federal Documents on Third Floor Willis under call number LC 3.3: and LC 3.3/3:)

Compilation of substantially all federal and state copyright cases for a the years 1909 to 1985, as well as cases involving related subjects in the field of intellectual property. A supplemental list of cases of related interest but not dealing directly with copyright is included in an appendix. The series was discontinued after the volume for 1985 was published.

Decisions of the United States Courts Involving Copyright and Literary Property, 1789–1909, with an Analytical Index (Available in Federal Documents on Third Floor Willis under call number LC 3.3/2:13–16)

This supplement to the Decisions of the United States Courts Involving Copyright covers the period from 1789 to 1909 and includes an Analytical Index for those years.

Selected Copyright Law Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court (Cornell University)

Full text of selected historic Supreme Court cases related to copyright. Menu indicates major issues related to each case.

List of Copyright Case Law (Wikipedia)

List of major cases dealing with copyright in United States and other countries. Entries for U.S. cases provide citations, dates, topics and major findings, and links to fuller articles on the cases. The longer articles include links to the full opinions.

Selected Landmark Cases

Bridgeman Art Library Ltd. v. Corel Corporation, 36 F.Supp.2d 191 (S.D.N.Y. 1999)  (Harvard Law School)

This case established that exact photographic reproductions of two-dimensional works of art in the public domain cannot be copyrighted because they lack the minimal degree of originality a work must have to qualify for copyright. For a discussion of the implications of this case, see The Right to Display Public Domain Images by Marilee.

Eldred v. Ashcroft

This site collects material related to the constitutional challenge of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which extended by 20 years both existing copyrights and future copyrights. Over the past forty years, Congress has extended the term of existing copyrights 11 times, thereby stopping the flow of creative material into the public domain. The biggest supporters of these laws have been individuals and corporations with extremely valuable copyrights that are about to expire (e.g., Mickey Mouse), but there are also many works still under copyright that no one seeks to protect—indeed, work which the current copyright owner may not even know he or she owns.

MGM v. Grokster (U.S. Copyright Office)

The Supreme Court ruled in this case that those who provide software designed to enable file-sharing of copyrighted works may be held liable for the copyright infringement that takes place when customers use that software. The Court held that “one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties.” This Web site includes a summary of the decision, the full text of the opinion, and copies of numerous briefs filed by other parties who had an interest in the outcome of the case.

Treaties and Conventions

The United States is a signatory to several multilateral treaties that govern how the works of U.S. citizens are to be treated in other countries and how the works of citizens of foreign nations are to be treated in the U.S.

Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (WIPO)

Under the Berne Convention (first drafted in 1886), works created by citizens in any nation that has signed the treaty are automatically protected in all other signatory nations. The treaty also requires strict minimum terms and levels of copyright protection in signatory nations. The United States ratified the Berne Convention in 1989, and as a result several aspects of U.S. copyright law were revised to comply with the terms of the treaty. The Berne Convention is currently administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The WIPO Web site provides a list of nations that have signed the Berne Convention.

Universal Copyright Convention (The Multilaterals Project, Tufts University)

The UCC was developed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for nations that wished to provide multilateral copyright protection, but did not necessarily agree with all aspects of the Berne Convention. Each nation that has signed the UCC is required to give citizens of other signatory nations the same copyright protection that their own citizens receive. The United States signed the UCC in 1955. The UNESCO Web site includes a list of nations that have signed the UCC.

TRIPs: Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (World Trade Organization)

TRIPs was negotiated at the 1994 Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to harmonize and strengthen the intellectual property laws of its signatory nations by linking them with the GATT system for resolving international trade disputes.

Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms (WIPO)

Also known as the Geneva Phonograms Convention (or just the Phonograms Convention), this 1971 treaty requires signatory countries to protect producers of sound recordings against piracy. The United States became a signatory to the treaty in 1974. 

Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (WIPO)

Also known as the Rome Convention on Related Rights, this 1961 treaty secures protection of neighboring rights in performances of performers, phonograms of producers, and broadcasts of broadcasting organizations. The United States is not a signatory to the Rome Convention on Related Rights, but these rights are part of copyright protection under TRIPs.

WIPO Copyright Treaty (WIPO)

The World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty was adopted in 1996 to update the Berne Convention in light of TRIPs and to deal with various copyright issues resulting from the emergence of the Internet and other advances in digital technology. The treaty protects computer software and databases and excludes from protection ideas, procedures, methods of operation, and mathematical concepts. The United States passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to implement the provisions of this treaty. 

WIPO Performances and Programs Treaty (WIPO)

This treaty, adopted in 1996 along with the WIPO Copyright Treaty, gives performers certain moral rights in audiorecordings, such as the right to be identified as the performer and the right to distortions that would injure the performer’s reputation. It gives producers of phonograms the rights of reproduction, distribution, rental, and making available. Performers are given the same rights with respect to their performances fixed in audiorecordings (but not audivisual recordings), as well as three rights with respect to live performances: the right of broadcasting and communication to the public (except for rebroadcasts), and the right of fixation.

Recently Enacted Laws

For a comprehensive list of recently enacted copyright laws, see Stanford Law School's U.S. Intellectual Property Law: Copyright.

Copyright Royalty Judges Program Technical Corrections Act - P.L. 109-303 (Copyright Royalty Board)

This act, passed on October 6, 2006, makes several non-controversial, technical corrections to the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004. For example, it provides Copyright Royalty Judges with explicit statutory authority to distribute portions of cable and satellite royalties before the end of royalty distribution proceedings.

Family Entertainment and Copyright Act - P.L. 109-9 (Copyright Office)

This act, signed on April 27, 2005, penalizes those who camcord motion pictures in movie theaters; creates civil and criminal penalties for those who willfully distribute pre-release works; clarifies the legal status of certain services and technologies that enable individuals to skip and mute content on certain works in the privacy of their own home; reauthorizes the National Film Preservation Board and Foundation; and corrects a technical error in the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act that limited library and archive access to certain works during the last 20 years of term. House Report 109-033 provides an analysis of the act, including background information and cost estimates.

Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004 - P.L. 108-419 (Copyright Royalty Board)

 This act, signed on November 30, 2004, makes extensive changes to the procedural framework for adjudicating royalty rates for compulsory licenses under the Copyright Act. Compulsory licenses facilitate many copyright-related activities, including digital transmissions of sound recordings in webcasting. A Congressional Research Service report summarizes the background and provisions of this act. The advocacy group Public Knowledge has a brief discussion of the provisions of this act and links to related resources. The Center for Democracy & Technology has an analysis of the provisions of this act.

Intellectual Property and Courts Amendments Act of 2004 - P.L. 108-482 (U.S. Copyright Office)

This act, signed on December 23, 2004, prevents and punishes counterfeiting of copyrighted copies and phonorecords and creates a presumption of willful infringement for those who provide false contact information when registering a domain name. The American Library Association provides a brief summary of the provisions of this act.

Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004 - contained in Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 - P.L. 108-447 (U.S. Copyright Office)

This act, signed on December 8, 2004, changes the way in which satellite companies can offer distant television stations and also allows satellite companies to offer certain "significantly viewed" distant signals. It expands the programming satellite companies can offer their subscribers. The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau provides background and a summary of this act. House Report 108-634 provides an analysis of the bill, including background and justification. The Congressional Budget Office provides a Cost Estimate of this act.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 - P.L. 108-446 (THOMAS)

Section 306 of this act, signed on December 3, 2004, makes it legal under certain conditions for a publisher of print instructional materials for use in elementary or secondary schools to create and distribute electronic files containing the contents of large print instructional materials using the National Instructional Material Accessibility Standard to the National Instructional Materials Access Center.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act—P.L. 105-304 (Government Printing Office)
(PDF file requires Adobe Reader)

This act, passed on October 28, 1998, is designed in part as a safeguard against piracy of software and other electronic information. It has raised questions in the academic community about how it would limit the concept of fair use. A summary of this act and a Congressional conference committee report are available online from the U.S. Copyright Office Web site (PDF files require Adobe Reader). Analyses of this act—with remarks on its implications for librarians, educators, and researchers—are available online from the American Library Association and the Association of Research Libraries.

Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act—P.L. 105-298, Title I (Government Printing Office)
(PDF file requires Adobe Reader)

This act retroactively extends the duration of copyright from the life of author plus fifty years to the life of the author plus seventy years, in the case of individual works, and from seventy-five years to ninety-five years in the case of works of corporate authorship and works first published before January 1, 1978. See an article in Wikipedia for background, related links, and pros and cons. This law was challenged in the Supreme Court by the case of Eldred v. Ashcroft, but was ruled constitutional.

Pending Laws and Legislation 

Copyright Legislation (U.S. Copyright Office)

Text and status of copyright-related bills recently introduced in Congress.

THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet (U.S. Library of Congress)

Searchable database of recent congressional legislation, committee reports and hearings, the Congressional Record, and other congressional information.

Copyright in a Global Information Economy (CoolCopyright)

List of proposed legislation and Congressional hearings on copyright law and policy. 

Statements to Congress by the U.S. Copyright Office (U.S. Copyright Office)

Policy statements and suggestions made by officials from the Copyright Office to influence pending legislation or to illuminate current issues.