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III.
Between 1976 and 1998, Congress acted repeatedly to limit the entry of copyrighted works into the public domain. What makes this trend remarkable is that in the course of amending the Copyright Act, Congress, in the name of protecting authors, arguably took from them a power they had clearly enjoyed under pre-1976 law: namely, the power voluntarily to relinquish rights in their works for the benefit of the public. At the same time, Congress added new statutory provisions empowering authors to recapture rights in their works that had formerly been licensed or conveyed away. The effect has been to make it ever more difficult for authors permanently to part with their exclusive copyright rights, even where they may knowingly and voluntarily wish to do so.

1. The Evolution of Copyright Standards
The protection of expressive works under copyright has proceeded through three distinct phases. From 1790 to 1977, U.S. law defined an “opt-in” copyright system. Works enjoyed federal copyright protection if, but only if, authors performed all the necessary actions—today commonly labeled “formalities”—that were necessary upon publication of the work for protection to attach. The principal requisites to secure copyright protection included: (1) providing notice of copyright in proper form; (2) registration of copyright in the work; and (3) depositing of a copy of the work with the Library of Congress. Authors who published their works without strictly observing the applicable formalities forfeited copyright protection; indeed,