§ 1505. Registration requirement

Statutory text

Application or Certificate.—

A claim or counterclaim alleging infringement of an exclusive right in a copyrighted work may not be asserted before the Copyright Claims Board unless—

the legal or beneficial owner of the copyright has first delivered a completed application, a deposit, and the required fee for registration of the copyright to the Copyright Office; and

a registration certificate has either been issued or has not been refused.

Certificate of Registration.—

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a claimant or counterclaimant in a proceeding before the Copyright Claims Board shall be eligible to recover actual damages and profits or statutory damages under this chapter for infringement of a work if the requirements of subsection (a) have been met, except that—

the Copyright Claims Board may not render a determination in the proceeding until—

a registration certificate with respect to the work has been issued by the Copyright Office, submitted to the Copyright Claims Board, and made available to the other parties to the proceeding; and

the other parties to the proceeding have been provided an opportunity to address the registration certificate;

if the proceeding may not proceed further because a registration certificate for the work is pending, the proceeding shall be held in abeyance pending submission of the certificate to the Copyright Claims Board, except that, if the proceeding is held in abeyance for more than 1 year, the Copyright Claims Board may, upon providing written notice to the parties to the proceeding, and 30 days to the parties to respond to the notice, dismiss the proceeding without prejudice; and

if the Copyright Claims Board receives notice that registration with respect to the work has been refused, the proceeding shall be dismissed without prejudice.

Presumption.—

In a case in which a registration certificate shows that registration with respect to a work was issued not later than 5 years after the date of the first publication of the work, the presumption under section 410(c) shall apply in a proceeding before the Copyright Claims Board, in addition to relevant principles of law under this title.

Regulations.—

In order to ensure that actions before the Copyright Claims Board proceed in a timely manner, the Register of Copyrights shall establish regulations allowing the Copyright Office to make a decision, on an expedited basis, to issue or deny copyright registration for an unregistered work that is at issue before the Board.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

2020
Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2021
Pub. L. 116–260 div. Q title II § 212(b) · 134 Stat. 1182
Enacted · 17 U.S.C. § 1505
(Added Pub. L. 116–260, div. Q, title II, § 212(b), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2184.)
Source evidence
Code source credit
(Added Pub. L. 116–260, div. Q, title II, § 212(b), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2184.)
Enacted provision · exact public law section
Sec. 212. At the discretion of the Attorney General, and in addition to any amounts that otherwise may be available (or authorized to be made available) by law, with respect to funds appropriated by this title under the headings “Research, Evaluation and Statistics”, “State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance”, and “Juvenile Justice Programs”— (1) up to 2 percent of funds made available to the Office of Justice Programs for grant or reimbursement programs may be used by such Office to provide training and technical assistance; and (2) up to 2 percent of funds made available for grant or reimbursement programs under such headings, except for amounts appropriated specifically for research, evaluation, or statistical programs administered by the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, shall be transferred to and merged with funds provided to the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, to be used by them for research, evaluation, or statistical purposes, without regard to the authorizations for such grant or reimbursement programs.

1 of 1 references resolved to an enrolled provision

Credits

(Added Pub. L. 116–260, div. Q, title II, § 212(b), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2184.)