U.S. Copyright Office, Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices ch. 2000 (3d ed. 2021)
| 2001 | What This Chapter Covers | 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Foreign Works | 3 |
| 2002.1 | What Is a Foreign Work? | 3 |
| 2002.2 | Treatment of Foreign Works | 4 |
| 2003 | Eligibility Requirements: How to Determine if a Foreign Work Is Eligible for Registration with the U.S. Copyright Office | 4 |
| 2003.1 | Unpublished Works | 4 |
| 2003.2 | Published Works | 4 |
| 2003.2(A) | Eligibility Based on Nationality or Domicile | 5 |
| 2003.2(B) | Eligibility Based on Location of First Publication | 5 |
| 2003.2(C) | Eligibility for Sound Recordings | 6 |
| 2003.2(D) | Eligibility Based on Incorporation into Buildings or Other Structures | 6 |
| 2003.2(E) | Eligibility of Works Published by the United Nations or the Organization of American States | 6 |
| 2003.2(F) | Eligibility Based on Presidential Proclamations | 6 |
| 2004 | Treaties and Presidential Proclamations | 6 |
| 2004.1 | Multilateral Treaties | 7 |
| 2004.2 | Bilateral Copyright Treaties and Presidential Proclamations | 8 |
| 2005 | Registration Issues | 8 |
| 2005.1 | Multiple Authors of a Foreign Work | 8 |
| 2005.2 | Authors with Multiple Nationalities | 9 |
| 2005.3 | Domicile or First Publication in the Territorial Areas of the United States | 9 |
| 2005.4 | Stateless Persons | 9 |
| 2005.5 | Works Made for Hire | 9 |
| 2005.5(A) | Nationality and Domicile of Corporations and Similar Organizations | 9 |
| 2005.5(B) | Members | 9 |
| 2005.5(C) | Doing Business | 10 |
| 2005.6 | Anonymous and Pseudonymous Works | 10 |
|---|---|---|
| 2005.7 | Compilations and Derivative Works | 10 |
| 2005.8 | When Is Eligibility Determined? | 10 |
| 2005.8(A) | Works Initially Registered as Unpublished, but Ineligible for Registration as Published Works | 10 |
| 2005.8(B) | Change in Nationality or Domicile after Publication | 10 |
| 2005.9 | Eligibility Unclear | 10 |
| 2006 | Application Tips for Foreign Works | 11 |
| 2007 | Restored Works | 11 |
| 2007.1 | What Is a Restored Work? | 11 |
| 2007.2 | Registration Requirements for Restored Works | 13 |
| 2007.2(A) | Form GATT | 13 |
| 2007.2(A)(1) | Who May File Form GATT? | 13 |
| 2007.2(A)(2) | Author of a Restored Work | 14 |
| 2007.2(A)(3) | Publication of a Restored Work | 14 |
| 2007.2(A)(4) | Owner of U.S. Copyright in a Restored Work | 14 |
| 2007.2(B) | Filing Fees | 14 |
| 2007.2(C) | Deposit Requirements | 14 |
This Chapter explains when authors of foreign works may apply to register their works with the U.S. Copyright Office. This Chapter applies to unpublished works regardless of when they were created, and to published works that were first published on or after January 1, 1978.
This Chapter also discusses Form GATT, which may be used to register a restored work that is eligible for copyright protection under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. Restored works comprise a small subset of foreign works, and applicants must use Form GATT to register these types of works with the Office.
For purposes of copyright registration, the term “foreign works” generally refers to works created by author(s) who are not U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals and/or works that were first published abroad. Generally, the author is the person or persons who actually created the material that the applicant intends to register. There is an exception to this rule if the work is a work made for hire. For a definition and discussion of works made for hire, see Chapter 500, Section 506.
U.S. citizens are people who are citizens in accordance with the U.S. Constitution or federal statutes, including (i) people born in Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico; and (ii) certain people who are by federal statute nationals, but not citizens of the United States, including people born in the outlying possessions of the United States. All U.S. citizens are also U.S. nationals. Works by U.S. citizens and nationals are not considered foreign works, and generally they are eligible for U.S. copyright protection.
The types of works that may be protected under the Copyright Act include literary works; musical works, including any accompanying words; dramatic works, including any accompanying music; pantomimes and choreographic works; pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; motion pictures and other audiovisual works; sound recordings; and architectural works; as well as derivative works, compilations, and collective works. For a definition and discussion of these types of works, see Chapter 500, Sections 507 (Derivative Works), 508 (Compilations), and 509 (Collective Works), and Chapters 700 (Literary Works), 800 (Works of the Performing Arts), and 900 (Visual Art Works).
In the vast majority of cases, a foreign work may be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office if it satisfies the eligibility requirements discussed in Section 2003. However, this does not mean that foreign works are treated exactly the same as domestic works. U.S. law applies whenever a United States work or a foreign work is involved in a copyright infringement lawsuit in this country. Before the copyright owner can file a lawsuit involving an infringement of a U.S. work, the work must be registered with the Office or the Office must issue a refusal to register that work. In addition, U.S. works must be registered in a timely manner to seek statutory damages and attorney's fees. By contrast, foreign works do not need to be registered (or refused registration) in order to file an infringement lawsuit in the United States, though they must be registered in a timely manner to seek statutory damages and attorney's fees.
Section 104 of the Copyright Act sets forth the categories of foreign works that are eligible for copyright protection under U.S. law. This Section describes each of these categories.
All unpublished foreign works are eligible for registration with the U.S. Copyright Office. 17 U.S.C. § 104(a). For a detailed explanation of when a work is considered published, see Chapter 1900.
Works first published in a foreign country are eligible for registration with the U.S. Copyright Office if they satisfy one or more of the conditions described in Sections 2003.2(A) through 2003.2(F).
Section 104(b)(1) of the Copyright Act protects foreign works if, upon the work's first publication, one or more author(s) of the work (i) is a national or domiciliary of the United States; (ii) is a national, domiciliary, or sovereign authority of a treaty party; or (iii) is a stateless person wherever that person is domiciled.
A 'sovereign authority' is a governmental agency or subdivision of a foreign nation, such as a ministry of the government of Norway or a province of Canada. A 'stateless person' is a person who has no nationality, either as the result of never having acquired nationality in any nation, or as the result of having effectively renounced or having been deprived of his or her former nationality without having, as yet, become a national of another nation.
Chapter 1900 generally discusses the concept of when a work is published. The concept of 'first publication' is further defined in Section 104(b) of the Copyright Act, which explains that 'a work that is published in the United States or a treaty party within thirty days after publication in a foreign nation that is not a treaty party shall be considered to be first published in the United States or such treaty party, as the case may be.'
This means that a foreign work may be eligible for copyright protection in a wide variety of cases. Aside from U.S. nationals and domiciliaries, authors who are nationals or domiciliaries of any treaty party at the time of first publication can obtain U.S. protection for a foreign work. As discussed in Section 2004, the United States has entered into treaty relations with all but a handful of countries, meaning that the majority of foreign works will be eligible for protection under Section 104(b) of the Copyright Act.
Section 104(b)(2) of the Copyright Act affords protection to all works that are first published in (i) the United States, or (ii) a foreign nation that, on the date of the first publication, is a treaty party. In other words, regardless of the nationality or domicile of the author(s), a work may be eligible for protection under the Copyright Act if it is first published in the United States or in any nation that has a relevant treaty with the United States at the time of the first publication. For more information on which countries are treaty partners, see Section 2004.
NOTE: There is an exception to this rule. A work that was first published in a foreign nation that has not entered into a treaty with the United States may be eligible for protection in this country if the work was published within thirty days thereafter in the United States or in a foreign nation that is a treaty party. This exception was added to the Copyright Act effective October 28, 1998, and it applies to any work that was first published on or after September 28, 1998. See Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Section 102, 112 Stat. 2860, 2862 (1998) (codified at 17 U.S.C. § 104(b)).
Section 104(b)(3) of the Copyright Act protects sound recordings that were first “fixed” in a foreign country that is a treaty party. Specifically, the law protects sound recordings that are embodied in phonorecords that are sufficiently permanent or stable to permit the work to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration. 17 U.S.C. § 101 (definition of “fixed”). For more information on fixation, see Chapter 300, Section 305 and Chapter 800, Section 803.4.
Section 104(b)(4) of the Copyright Act protects pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works that are incorporated into a building or other structure, and architectural works that are embodied in a building. The Copyright Act, however, only protects pictorial, graphic, sculptural, and architectural works if the building or structure in which they are incorporated or embodied is located in the United States or a treaty party.
Section 104(b)(5) of the Copyright Act states that works first published by the United Nations (or any of its specialized agencies) or by the Organization of American States are eligible for protection under the Copyright Act. This provision is based on first publication by these organizations, regardless of the location of the publication.
Section 104(b)(6) of the Copyright Act protects works that come within the scope of Presidential proclamations. This means that, in addition to the categories listed in Sections 2003.2(A) through 2003.2(E), a work may be eligible for protection in the United States if the President finds that a particular foreign nation extends copyright protection to works by nationals or domiciliaries of the United States or works that are first published in the United States “on substantially the same basis as that on which the foreign nation extends protection to works of its own nationals and domiciliaries and works first published in that nation.” 17 U.S.C. § 104(b)(6). In such cases, the President may issue a proclamation that extends copyright protection “to works of which one or more of the authors is, on the date of first publication, a national, domiciliary, or sovereign authority of that [foreign] nation, or which was first published in that nation.” Id. The President may revise, suspend, or revoke any such proclamation or impose any conditions or limitations on protection under a proclamation.
U.S. protection of foreign works often is based on the United States’ treaty relationships with other countries. The United States has treaty relationships with all but a handful of countries, as set forth in International Copyright Relations of the United States (Circular 38a). Some of these treaties are multilateral, meaning that there are more than two parties to the treaty, while other treaties are bilateral, meaning that they are between just the United States and one foreign country. It is important to note the date on which a foreign country became a treaty party, because U.S. law will apply only to works either created or first published (depending on which type of eligibility is used) on or after the date that the foreign country became a treaty party. Additionally, for a treaty to confer eligibility, it must apply to the work at issue. For example, an author of a literary work could not rely on the existence of a copyright treaty that protects only satellite broadcasts but not literary works.
The United States is a party to a number of multilateral copyright treaties, including the following:
provisions relating to enforcement of intellectual property rights. The effective date of United States membership in the WTO is January 1, 1995.
For information concerning the other countries that are parties to these treaties and the date upon which a country became a treaty party, see International Copyright Relations of the United States (Circular 38a).
The United States has entered into bilateral treaties with some foreign countries. These treaties often are in addition to multilateral treaties and try to provide a further layer of protection. For a list of specific U.S. bilateral treaties, see International Copyright Relations of the United States (Circular 38a).
Additionally, there have been numerous Presidential proclamations throughout the years specifying countries to which the United States has extended copyright law protection. Presidential proclamations were especially common prior to the United States’s adherence to the Berne Convention, which allowed the United States to provide protection to foreign works more easily. These proclamations are included as part of the “bilateral” agreements listed in Circular 38(a).
This Section discusses frequent registration issues that arise in connection with foreign works.
If the foreign work was created by multiple authors and if eligibility is based on the domicile or nationality of those authors, the work will be eligible for registration as long as any one of the authors’ nationalities or domiciles is sufficient. For example, if the work was created by three authors, two of whom are from Iran (a country that has no copyright treaties with the United States) and one of whom is from France (a country that does have copyright relations with the United States), the work would be eligible for registration.
If a work’s eligibility is based on the author’s nationality and the author has more than one nationality (for example, if the author has dual citizenship), the work will be eligible for registration if either of the author’s nationalities satisfy the Copyright Act’s eligibility requirements.
Domicile or first publication in any of the territorial areas under the jurisdiction of the U.S. government — other than the several states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the organized territories — does not confer eligibility for registration. Such areas include the unorganized territories, the trust territories, and other possessions of the United States. However, works by domiciliaries of, or works first published in, these areas may be eligible on the basis of the nationality of the author. Since U.S. nationals include persons born in the outlying possessions of the United States, eligibility in such cases may be conferred on that basis.
A work by a stateless author is eligible for registration with the U.S. Copyright Office regardless of the author’s former or prospective nationality or domicile, and regardless of the place of first publication of the work. 17 U.S.C. § 104(b)(1).
In the case of a work made for hire, it is the nationality or domicile of the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared, rather than the nationality or domicile of the employee, which serves as the basis for determining eligibility for registration.
In the case of a work made for hire, where the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared is not a natural person, but is an artificial person or legal entity such as a corporation or similar organization, the nationality and domicile of that organization is usually considered to be the nation under the laws of which the organization was created for purposes of copyright registration. For example, the nationality and domicile of a corporation generally should be stated as the United States if it was incorporated under the law of one of the several States, under federal law, or under the law of the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or those organized territories under the jurisdiction of the United States that have the power to create corporations.
A corporation or similar organization is ordinarily considered by law to be separate and distinct from the persons who are its members or shareholders. As a result, the nationality or domicile of the organization may be different from that of its members or shareholders.
A corporation may do business in a particular nation without being a national or domiciliary of that nation.
Where eligibility depends on the nationality or domicile of the author, the applicant must provide that information in the application, even if the work is anonymous or pseudonymous. The applicant does not, however, have to identify the author’s name in such cases.
For a definition and general discussion of anonymous and pseudonymous works, see Chapter 600, Sections 615.1 and 615.2.
The nationality or domicile of the author of a compilation or derivative work is used in determining eligibility for registration, rather than the nationality or domicile of the author(s) of the preexisting material used in that work.
If eligibility must be based on the author’s nationality or domicile, the author’s nationality or domicile and the status of the author’s country must be assessed as of the date of first publication.
Even though a work may have been registered as unpublished, it must be eligible at the time of first publication to be registrable as a published work. For example, if the author is a national and domiciliary of Iraq (a nation with which the United States has no copyright relations), the U.S. Copyright Office will register the work if it is unpublished. If the work is later published in another country with which the United States does not have copyright treaty relations, and the author’s citizenship and domicile remain unchanged, the Office will refuse to register the claim in the published version.
If a work was eligible for registration at the time of first publication on the basis of the author’s nationality or domicile, changes in nationality or domicile occurring after that time will not impact the work’s eligibility.
Sometimes the status of copyright relations between the United States and a particular nation is unclear. In cases where eligibility depends on the existence of copyright relations with that country, but the relationship is unclear, the U.S. Copyright Office will refuse registration.
In most cases, eligible foreign works may be registered just like any other work. In other words, an applicant generally may submit an application using the electronic registration system and selecting the type of work at issue (e.g., literary work, work of the performing arts, work of the visual arts, sound recording, or single serial issue) or by using a paper application (e.g., Form TX, PA, VA, SR, SE, etc.). For specific guidance on how to complete these applications, see Chapter 600 (Examination Practices). There are, however, some foreign works that must be registered with a paper application submitted on Form GATT. These works typically were created or published before 1996 and are known as “restored works,” which are discussed in Section 2007 below.
In all cases, the applicant should provide the name of the nation of which the author is a national or domiciliary, and in the case of a published work, the name of the nation of first publication of the work. For guidance in identifying the author’s nationality or domicile, see Chapter 600, Section 617. For guidance in identifying the nation of first publication, see Chapter 600, Section 612.
Generally, the U.S. Copyright Office will not accept an application that lists a territory or other political subdivision, rather than the name of the nation itself.
Examples of acceptable statements:
Examples of unacceptable statements:
Previously, U.S. federal copyright law did not protect original works of authorship immediately upon their fixation in a tangible medium of expression. Instead, authors needed to take certain steps, such as publishing the work with a specific copyright notice and renewing the copyrights at particular times in order to obtain federal copyright protection. These types of requirements are called “formalities” and they applied to both U.S. and foreign works.
In 1978, the current Copyright Act went into effect, which eliminated some of these requirements. In 1989, the United States became a member of the Berne Convention, and enacted the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, Pub. L. No. 103–465, 108 Stat. 4809 (codified in scattered sections of the U.S.C.) (1994) (“URAA”), which implemented the United States’ obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. This further relaxed some of the Copyright Act’s more restrictive provisions.
Specifically, the URAA “restored” the copyright in foreign works that entered the public domain because of a failure to comply with certain formalities, and thus provided retroactive copyright protection for many works that were ineligible for protection under the prior law. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the URAA does not violate Article I, Section 8 or the First Amendment of the Constitution. Golan v. Holder, 565 U.S. 302 (2012).
Section 104A(h)(6) of the Copyright Act specifies the requirements that must be met in order to qualify as a “restored work.”
January 1, 1996 is the effective date of restoration of copyright for foreign works from countries that were members of the WTO or the Berne Convention on that date. Most restored works were restored on January 1, 1996, because many countries became members of the WTO or Berne Convention prior to that date. In all other cases, the effective date of restoration is the date a newly eligible country accedes to the WTO or the Berne Convention or the date of a Presidential proclamation restoring U.S. copyright protection to works of that country.
NOTE: Restored works are subject to a variety of other legal requirements regarding enforcement and remedies, which are not covered in this Compendium. For more information on restored works, see Copyright Restoration Under the URAA (Circular 38b).
The Copyright Act protects restored works regardless of whether they are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, although registration does provide various benefits, which are described in Chapter 200, Section 202. This Section provides general information for copyright owners that wish to register their restored works with the Office.
A registration for a restored work (which is known as a “GATT registration”) covers an individual work, and an applicant should prepare a separate application, filing fee, and deposit for each work that is submitted to the Office. See Fees, 71 Fed. Reg. 15,368, 15,369 (Mar. 28, 2006).
To register a restored work, an applicant must file a paper application using Form GATT. Applicants cannot use the Office’s electronic registration system to register restored works. Form GATT is designed to request information needed to determine whether a work qualifies as a restored work and complies with U.S. legal requirements.
While many parts of Form GATT are similar to the Office’s other applications, Form GATT requires information that may be different than the information required by other forms because of the differences in how the Copyright Act treats restored works. These issues are discussed in Sections 2007.2(A)(1) through 2007.2(A)(4).
Form GATT may be filed by any of the following parties:
See Restoration of Certain Berne and WTO Works, 60 Fed. Reg. 50,414, 50,418 (Sept. 29, 1995).
When identifying the author of a restored work on Form GATT applicants should be aware of the following issues:
To qualify for a GATT registration, a published work (i) must have at least one author or rightholder who was a national or domiciliary of an eligible country when the work was created, (ii) it must have been first published in an eligible country, and (iii) it must not have been published in the United States within thirty days after first publication in that country. See 17 U.S.C. § 104A(h)(6)(D).
A claim in a restored work may be registered only in the name of the current owner of all U.S. rights in that work. See Restoration of Certain Berne and WTO Works, 60 Fed. Reg. 50,414, 50,418 (Sept. 29, 1995).
The applicant must submit the correct filing fee to register a restored work. See 37 C.F.R. § 202.3(c)(2). The current fee is set forth in the U.S. Copyright Office's fee schedule under the heading "Registration of a claim in a restored copyright (Form GATT)."
For information concerning the methods for paying the filing fee, see Chapter 1400, Sections 1412.3 through 1412.5.
For specific deposit requirements for different types of restored works, see Chapter 1500, Sections 1509.1(J) (Literary Works), 1509.2(H) (Works of the Performing Arts), and 1509.3(E)(3) (Visual Art Works).