§903 Ownership, Transfer, Licensing, and Recordation

Summary

The person who owns a mask work has the exclusive rights to it. That owner may transfer all those rights or give licenses for all or part of them in a written paper signed by the owner or an authorized agent. Those rights can also move by law, by a will, or by the rules for when someone dies without a will. Papers about transfers or licenses can be filed with the Copyright Office if they are signed or come with a sworn certified copy. The Office will record the paper and return it with a record certificate after the required fee is paid. Recording gives the public notice of what the paper says. If two conflicting transfers happen, a later transfer made for value and without notice of the earlier one will win unless the earlier transfer is recorded within three months after it was signed, and in any case before the later transfer. Mask works made by a U.S. government employee as part of their job are not protected, but the government can still receive and hold rights that are transferred to it.