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

Summary

No one can file a registration application or start an enforcement lawsuit under this law until 60 days after the law was passed. Also, money damages cannot be awarded for actions that happened before the law was passed, except as explained below. After that 60-day wait, the law applies to any mask work first sold or registered on or after the enactment date. Mask works first sold or used commercially on or after July 1, 1983 and before the law was passed can get protection if the owner registers them by July 1, 1985. For those works, copied chip products made before the law was passed may be imported or distributed in the U.S. without liability until two years after the work is registered, but only if the importer or distributor first pays or offers to pay the reasonable royalty the law requires on all such units after enactment. If they do not pay or offer that royalty, the mask work owner can seek the usual legal remedies and money damages.

Title 17, §913

Copyrights — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)No application for registration under section 908 may be filed, and no civil action under section 910 or other enforcement proceeding under this chapter may be instituted, until sixty days after the date of the enactment of this chapter.

(b)No monetary relief under section 911 may be granted with respect to any conduct that occurred before the date of the enactment of this chapter, except as provided in subsection (d).

(c)Subject to subsection (a), the provisions of this chapter apply to all mask works that are first commercially exploited or are registered under this chapter, or both, on or after the date of the enactment of this chapter.

(d)(1)Subject to subsection (a), protection is available under this chapter to any mask work that was first commercially exploited on or after July 1, 1983, and before the date of the enactment of this chapter, if a claim of protection in the mask work is registered in the Copyright Office before July 1, 1985, under section 908.

(2)In the case of any mask work described in paragraph (1) that is provided protection under this chapter, infringing semiconductor chip product units manufactured before the date of the enactment of this chapter may, without liability under section 910 and 911, be imported into or distributed in the United States, or both, until two years after the date of registration of the mask work under section 908, but only if the importer or distributor, as the case may be, first pays or offers to pay the reasonable royalty referred to in section 907(a)(2) to the mask work owner, on all such units imported or distributed, or both, after the date of the enactment of this chapter.

(3)In the event that a person imports or distributes infringing semiconductor chip product units described in paragraph (2) of this subsection without first paying or offering to pay the reasonable royalty specified in such paragraph, or if the person refuses or fails to make such payment, the mask work owner shall be entitled to the relief provided in section 910 and 911.

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of enactment of this chapter, referred to in text, is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 98–620, which was approved Nov. 8, 1984.

§913 Transitional Provisions

Summary

Title 17, §913

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

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