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§ 411. Registration as prerequisite to infringement suit
(a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (b), no action for infringement of the copyright in any work shall be instituted until registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title. In any case, however, where the deposit, application, and fee required for registration have been delivered to the Copyright Office in proper form and registration has been refused, the applicant is entitled to institute an action for infringement if notice thereof, with a copy of the complaint, is served on the Register of Copyrights. The Register may, at his option, become a party to the action with respect to the issue of registrability of the copyright claim by entering his appearance within sixty days after such service, but his failure to become a party shall not deprive the court of jurisdiction to determine that issue.
(b) In the case of a work consisting of sounds, images, or both, the first fixation of which is made simultaneously with its transmission, the copyright owner may, either before or after such fixation takes place, institute an action for infringement under section 501, fully subject to the remedies provided by sections 502 through 506, if, in accordance with requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation, the copyright owner—
- (1) serves notice upon the infringer, not less than ten or more than thirty days before such fixation, identifying the work and the specific time and source of its first transmission, and declaring an intention to secure copyright in the work; and
- (2) makes registration for the work within three months after its first transmission.
§ 412. Registration as prerequisite to certain remedies for infringement
In any action under this title, other than an action instituted under section 411(b), no award of statutory damages or of attorney’s fees, as provided by sections 504 and 505, shall be made for:
- (1) any infringement of copyright in an unpublished work commenced before the effective date of its registration; or
- (2) any infringement of copyright commenced after first publication of the work and before the effective date of its registration, unless such registration is made within three months after its first publication.
Chapter 5.—COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND REMEDIES
Sec.
- Infringement of copyright.
- Remedies for infringement: Injunctions.
- Remedies for infringement: Impounding and disposition of infringing articles.
- Remedies for infringement: Damages and profits.
- Remedies for infringement: Costs and attorney’s fees.
- Criminal offenses.
- Limitations on actions.
- Notification of filing and determination of actions.
- Seizure and forfeiture.
§ 501. Infringement of copyright
(a) Anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner as provided by sections 106 through 118, or who imports copies or phonorecords into the United States in violation of section 602, is an infringer of the copyright.
(b) The legal or beneficial owner of an exclusive right under a copyright is entitled, subject to the requirements of sections 205(d) and 411, to institute an action for any infringement of that particular right committed while he is the owner of it. The court may require him to serve written notice of the action with a copy of the complaint upon any person shown, by the records of the Copyright Office or otherwise, to have or claim an interest in the copyright, and shall require that such notice be served upon any person whose interest is likely to be affected by a decision in the case. The court may require the joinder, and shall permit the intervention, of any person having or claiming an interest in the copyright.
(c) For any secondary transmission by a cable system that embodies a performance or a display of a work which is actionable as an act of infringement under subsection (c) of section 111, a television broadcast station holding a copyright or other license to transmit or perform the same version of that work shall, for purposes of subsection (b) of this section, be treated as a legal or
