§903 Ownership, Transfer, Licensing, and Recordation

Summary

The owner of a mask work has the exclusive right to it. The owner can transfer all those rights, or license all or part of them, by a written document signed by the owner or an authorized agent. Those rights can also pass by operation of law, by will, or under the rules for intestate succession. Documents about transfers or licenses can be recorded in the Copyright Office if signed or certified as true and the required fee under section 908(d) is paid. Recording gives public notice. If two transfers conflict, the first one is void against a later bona fide transfer unless the first is recorded within three months of execution and no later than the day before the later transfer. Works made by U.S. government employees as part of their job are not protected, but the government can still receive rights transferred to it.