Page:Copyright Office Compendium 3rd Edition - Full.djvu/1146

, Third Edition 2309.15 Date of Recordation for a Transfer or Other Document Pertaining to Copyright

When the Office records a transfer of ownership or other document pertaining to copyright, the Office assigns a date of recordation to the certificate of recordation. The date of recordation is the date when the Office receives a proper filing fee and a proper document regardless of when the recordation specialist examines and records the document. If the document and the filing fee are received on different dates, the date of recordation is based on the date of receipt for the last item that is received by the Office. Likewise, if the document is returned to the remitter for correction, the date of recordation is based on the date that the corrected document is received by the Office. 37 C.F.R. § 201.4(c) and (e).

Example:

• On July 1st, the remitter submits an assignment of copyright containing twelve titles, together with the correct filing fee for eleven titles. On November 1st the recordation specialist notifies the remitter that the correct filing fee has not been paid. On November 2nd, the remitter submits the appropriate filing fee for the other titles listed in the document. The document will be recorded with a date of recordation of November 2nd.

2310 Notices of Termination

The Copyright Act allows authors or their heirs, under certain circumstances, to terminate an agreement that transferred or licensed the author's copyright to a third party. These termination provisions are set forth in Sections 203, 304(c), and 304(d) of the statute.

2310.1 How to Terminate a Grant

To terminate a grant, the author or the author's heirs must serve an advance written "notice of termination" on the grantee or the grantee's successor in title and must record a copy of that notice with the U.S. Copyright Office.

The notice of termination must specify the date that the termination goes into effect. The effective date must fall within a five-year termination period. The beginning and ending of this five-year period is based on a number of factors, such as whether the grant was executed before or after January 1, 1978.

The notice must be served and recorded before the effective date of termination. Specifically, the notice must be served on the grantee no less than two years and no more than ten years before the effective date, and the notice must be recorded with the Office before the effective date.

Failing to specify an effective date that falls within the five-year termination period, or failing to serve and record the notice in a timely manner is a fatal mistake. If the author or the author's heirs do not comply with these requirements the notice of termination will be invalid, "the agreement will continue according to its own terms," and "all rights

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