Circular 3 Copyright Notice

CIRCULAR

cords of a work to inform the public that a copyright owner

is claiming ownership of it.

A notice consists of three ele-

ments that generally appear as a single continuous statement:

• The copyright symbol © (or for phonorecords, the

symbol ℗ ); the word “copyright”; or the abbreviation

“copr.” ;

• The year of first publication of the work; and

• The name of the copyright owner.

The use of a copyright notice is the responsibility of the

registration with, the Copyright Office.

before March 1, 1989, subject to some exceptions discussed

below. If the notice was omitted or a mistake was made in

using copyright notice, the work generally lost copyright

protection in the United States. Copyright notice is optional

for works published on or after March 1, 1989, unpublished

works, and foreign works; however, there are legal benefits for

including notice on your work.

Works Requiring Notice

Different laws govern works first published before January 1,

1978, and works first published between January 1, 1978, and

February 28, 1989. The discussion in this circular applies to

works first published between January 1, 1978, and Febru-

ary 28, 1989. For information about notice for works first

published before January 1, 1978, see chapter 2100 of the

Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices.

to the public regarding copyright

ownership. Notice is optional for

works created after March 1, 1989,

but is generally required for works

created before that date. This circular

introduces the concept of notice.

It covers

• The elements of notice

• Where notice is required and

where it is optional

• The legal formalities of notice

when it is required

• The advantages of including

notice on a work

Copies That Must Display Notice

In general, for works first published before March 1, 1989, the copyright owner was required to place

an effective notice on all publicly distributed “visually perceptible” copies. A visually perceptible copy

is one that can be seen or read, either directly or with the aid of a machine. Examples of visually per-

ceptible copies include a book, sheet music, a photograph, or film. A visually perceptible copy does not

include a CD, a vinyl record, or an .MP3 recording of a literary, dramatic, or musical work.

When a copyright owner published a phonorecord that embodied a sound recording, an effective

notice had to appear on all publicly distributed phonorecords. The phonorecord symbol— ℗—was

needed only for publicly distributed copies of a sound recording embodied in a phonorecord.

Form of Notice

An effective notice includes three general elements, as described above, as a single continuous state-

ment. It was permissible to omit the year of publication for works reproduced on greeting cards,

postcards, stationary, jewelry, dolls, toys, or any useful article. See the following sections of chapter

2200 of the Compendium for specific issues regarding the elements of notice:

• Section 2204.4 for variations on the © or ℗ symbol, or the word “copyright”

• Section 2205.1 for variations on the year of publication

• Section 2205.2 for variations on the name of the copyright owner

Placement of Notice

The copyright notice had to be placed on copies or phonorecords in a way that was permanently

legible to an ordinary user of the work and could not be concealed from view upon reasonable

examination. The Office adopted specific regulations for the placement of notice on the following

types of works:

• Literary works

• Contributions to collective works

• Musical works

• Sound recordings

• Dramatic works

• Motion pictures and other audiovisual works

• Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works

• Multipart works

• Works published in machine-readable copies

For more information, see chapter 2200, section 2207, of the Compendium.

Omission of Noce and Errors of Noce

An omission or mistake in using a copyright notice may not have invalidated the copyright to works

published between January 1, 1978 and March 1, 1989, if

• The notice was omitted from no more than a relatively small number of copies or phonore-

cords distributed to the public;

• The work was registered before or within five years after the publication without notice and

a reasonable effort was made to add notice to all copies or phonorecords distributed in the

United States after the omission was discovered;

• The omission violated an express written agreement to include proper notice as a condition of

public distribution of copies or phonorecords; or,

• The notice was removed from the copies or phonorecords without the authorization of the

When Notice Is Optional

March 1, 1989. When notice is optional, copyright owners can use any form of notice they wish. How-

ever, works first published after March 1, 1989, may need to comply with statutory formalities to pre-

vent a defendant from invoking an innocent infringement defense in a copyright infringement action.

Unpublished Works

A copyright notice has never been required for unpublished works. The Copyright Office will

ated before or after March 1, 1989. Nonetheless, because the dividing line between a preliminary

distribution and actual publication is sometimes difficult to determine, copyright owners may want

to place copyright notices on copies or phonorecords that leave their control to indicate that rights

are claimed in a work. For example, an appropriate notice for an unpublished work is “Unpublished

Foreign Works and the Uruguay Round Agreements Act

For certain foreign works, the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) of 1994 modifies the effect

of publication without notice. The URAA restored copyrights for foreign works that lost copyright

protection in the United States for failure to comply with notice requirements prior to March 1, 1989.

They include (a) works created by an author who, at the time of the work’s creation, was a citizen of,

or domiciled in, a country that had entered into a copyright treaty with the United States, and (b)

works first published, or sound recordings first fixed, in a country that had entered into a copyright

treaty with the United States. Although restoration is automatic in eligible works, the URAA directs

the owner of a restored work to notify reliance parties if the owner plans to enforce his or her rights

in the work.

For more information, see Copyright Restoration Under the URAA (Circular 38B).

Advantages to Using a Copyright Notice

Although notice is optional for unpublished works, foreign works, or works published on or after

March 1, 1989, using a copyright notice carries the following benefits:

• Notice makes potential users aware that copyright is claimed in the work.

• In the case of a published work, a notice may prevent a defendant in a copyright infringement

action from attempting to limit his or her liability for damages or injunctive relief based on an

innocent infringement defense.

• Notice identifies the copyright owner at the time the work was first published for parties seek-

ing permission to use the work.

• Notice identifies the year of first publication, which may be used to determine the term of

made for hire.

• Notice may prevent the work from becoming an orphan work by identifying the copyright

owner and specifying the term of the copyright.



1. This circular is intended as an overview of the basic concepts of copyright notice. The authoritative

source for U.S. copyright law is the Copyright Act, codied in Title 17 of the United States Code. Copy-

right Oce regulations are codied in Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Copyright Oce

practices and procedures are summarized in the third edition of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright

Oce Practices, cited as the Compendium. The copyright law, regulations, and the Compendium are

available on the Copyright Oce website at www.copyright.gov.

2. A “phonorecord” is a material object in which sounds are xed and from which the sounds can

be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine

or device. Examples include a cassette tape, a vinyl disc, or a compact disc. A phonorecord does not

include sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work.

3. A reliance party is typically a business or individual who, relying on the public domain status of

a work, was using it before the enactment of the URAA on December 8, 1994. For works from any

country that was not eligible under the URAA as of December 8, 1994, reliance parties are those

using the work before the date on which the country becomes eligible by joining the World Trade

Agreement or the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works or as a result of

a presidential proclamation.

U. S. Copyright Office · Library of Congress · 101 Independence Avenue SE · Washington, DC 20559 · copyright.gov

CIRCULAR 3 REVISED: 03/2021 PRINT: 00/0000 — 0000

For Further Information

By Internet

The copyright law, the Compendium, electronic registration, application forms, regulations,

and related materials are available on the Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov.

By Email

To send an email inquiry, click the Contact Us link on the Copyright Office website.

By Telephone

For general information, call the Copyright Public Information Office at (202) 707-3000 or

1-877-476-0778 (toll free). Staff members are on duty from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, eastern time,

Monday through Friday, except federal holidays. To request application forms or circulars by

postal mail, call (202) 707-9100 or 1-877-476-0778 and leave a recorded message.

By Regular Mail

Write to

Library of Congress

U.S. Copyright Office

Outreach and Education Section

101 Independence Avenue, SE #6304

Washington, DC 20559-6304