
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 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.
