3.  It has at least one author or rightholder who was, at the time the work was created, a national or domiciliary of an eligible country;

4.  If published, it was first published in an eligible country and was not published in the United States during the 30-day period following publication in such eligible country.

Notwithstanding the fact that the work meets the above requirements, any work ever owned or administered by the Alien Property Custodian and in which the restored copyright would be owned by a government or instrumentality thereof, is not a restored work.

B. Effective Date of Restoration

Eligible copyrights are restored automatically on the date the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs) enters into force with respect to the United States (URAA, section 514(a)).  As discussed in the Notice of Policy Decision and Public Meeting, the Copyright Office has concluded that the effective date of copyright restoration is January 1, 1996. 60 FR 7793 (Feb. 9, 1995).  President Clinton has confirmed that the date on which the obligations of the TRIPs Agreement will take effect for the United States is January 1, 1996.  Proclamation No. 6780, 60 FR 15845 (Mar. 27, 1995).

II.  The Copyright Office’s Responsibilities

Although copyright restoration is automatic for eligible works, the URAA charged the Office with establishing regulations to govern the filing of Notices of Intent to Enforce (NIEs) restored copyrights and the registering of copyright claims in restored works by no later than October 1, 1995.

The Act also requires the Office to publish a list in the Federal Register identifying restored works and their ownership where NIEs have been filed with the Office.  The Office must also maintain a list containing all NIEs for inspection and copying by the public.

A. Notices of Intent To Enforce

1.  Notification of Reliance Party

The URAA directs the owner of a restored work to notify reliance parties if the owner of the rights in a restored work plans to enforce those rights.  A reliance party is typically a business or individual who, relying on the public domain status of a work, was already using the work prior to December 8, 1994, the date of enactment of the URAA. SUP2 The URAA authorizes the owner of a right in a restored work either to provide actual notice by serving a NIE directly on a reliance party or to provide constructive notice through the filing of a NIE with the Copyright Office.

\2\ This is true for the great majority of works.  However, for works from any country which was not eligible under the URAA as of December 8, 1994, reliance parties would be those using the work before the date on which that country becomes an eligible country by joining Berne, the WTO, or as a result of a Presidential proclamation.

-------------------------------------------------------

---------------

2.  Effective Filing Date