§910 — Title 17 Copyrights | U.S. Code

Summary

Violating an owner's exclusive rights in a mask work in business or trade makes the violator an infringer and legally responsible. Defined term: "any person" here includes a State, a State agency, or a State officer or employee acting in an official role, and they are treated the same as private parties. The mask work owner or an exclusive licensee can sue for infringement once a registration certificate is issued and only for copying or use that happened after protection began. If someone filed a proper registration application and paid the fee but the Copyright Office refused to register, that applicant can still sue if they serve notice and a copy of the complaint on the Register of Copyrights; the Register may join the case within 60 days but may also decline and the court can still decide. The Treasury Secretary and the U.S. Postal Service must make rules to stop infringing imports. To block imports, the rules may require a court or International Trade Commission order, proof the mask work is protected and the import would infringe, or a bond to cover harm if the hold was wrong. Imported items that violate mask-work rights can be seized and forfeited like other customs violations and usually destroyed, except they may be sent back to the country of export if the Treasurer is satisfied the importer reasonably believed they did not break the law.

Title 17, §910

Copyrights — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any person who violates any of the exclusive rights of the owner of a mask work under this chapter, by conduct in or affecting commerce, shall be liable as an infringer of such rights. As used in this subsection, the term “any person” includes any State, any instrumentality of a State, and any officer or employee of a State or instrumentality of a State acting in his or her official capacity. Any State, and any such instrumentality, officer, or employee, shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter in the same manner and to the same extent as any nongovernmental entity.

(b)(1)The owner of a mask work protected under this chapter, or the exclusive licensee of all rights under this chapter with respect to the mask work, shall, after a certificate of registration of a claim of protection in that mask work has been issued under section 908, be entitled to institute a civil action for any infringement with respect to the mask work which is committed after the commencement of protection of the mask work under section 904(a).

(2)In any case in which an application for registration of a claim of protection in a mask work and the required deposit of identifying material and fee have been received in the Copyright Office in proper form and registration of the mask work has been refused, the applicant is entitled to institute a civil action for infringement under this chapter with respect to the mask work if notice of the action, together with a copy of the complaint, is served on the Register of Copyrights, in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Register may, at his or her option, become a party to the action with respect to the issue of whether the claim of protection is eligible for registration by entering an appearance within sixty days after such service, but the failure of the Register to become a party to the action shall not deprive the court of jurisdiction to determine that issue.

(c)(1)The Secretary of the Treasury and the United States Postal Service shall separately or jointly issue regulations for the enforcement of the rights set forth in section 905 with respect to importation. These regulations may require, as a condition for the exclusion of articles from the United States, that the person seeking exclusion take any one or more of the following actions:

(A)Obtain a court order enjoining, or an order of the International Trade Commission under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 excluding, importation of the articles.

(B)Furnish proof that the mask work involved is protected under this chapter and that the importation of the articles would infringe the rights in the mask work under this chapter.

(C)Post a surety bond for any injury that may result if the detention or exclusion of the articles proves to be unjustified.

(2)Articles imported in violation of the rights set forth in section 905 are subject to seizure and forfeiture in the same manner as property imported in violation of the customs laws. Any such forfeited articles shall be destroyed as directed by the Secretary of the Treasury or the court, as the case may be, except that the articles may be returned to the country of export whenever it is shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury that the importer had no reasonable grounds for believing that his or her acts constituted a violation of the law.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, referred to in subsec. (b)(2), are set out in the Appendix to Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, referred to in subsec. (c)(1)(A), is classified to section 1337 of Title 19, Customs Duties.

Amendments

1997—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–80 substituted “As used” for “as used” in second sentence. 1990—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101–553 inserted sentences at end defining “any person” and providing that any State and any instrumentality, officer, or employee be subject to the provisions of this chapter in the same manner and to the same extent as any nongovernmental entity.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1990 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 101–553 effective with respect to violations that occur on or after Nov. 15, 1990, see section 3 of Pub. L. 101–553, set out as a note under section 501 of this title.

§910 Enforcement of Exclusive Rights