Title 17 — CopyrightsRelease 119-73
§1326 Penalty for false marking
Title 17 › Chapter CHAPTER 13— - PROTECTION OF ORIGINAL DESIGNS › § 1326
Summary
Falsely marking or advertising a design as protected to deceive people can bring a fine up to $500 per offense. Anyone can sue to get that fine; one-half goes to the person who sued and the other one-half goes to the United States.
Full Legal Text
Title 17, §1326
Copyrights — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Whoever, for the purpose of deceiving the public, marks upon, applies to, or uses in advertising in connection with an article made, used, distributed, or sold, a design which is not protected under this chapter, a design notice specified in section 1306, or any other words or symbols importing that the design is protected under this chapter, knowing that the design is not so protected, shall pay a civil fine of not more than $500 for each such offense.
(b)Any person may sue for the penalty established by subsection (a), in which event one-half of the penalty shall be awarded to the person suing and the remainder shall be awarded to the United States.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
17 U.S.C. § 1326
Title 17 — Copyrights
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73