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It is true that the holder of a copyright certificate of registration may secure some procedural advantages in litigating a copyright suit based on the effective date of registration.  If registration is made before or within 5 years of publication, it will establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate; and if registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney’s fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions.  Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner.

III.  The Comments

A. Comments Submitted

The Copyright Office sought public comment concerning the implementation of the URAA both prior to and after publication of its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).  The Office first published a notice inviting interested parties to submit written comments and/or to attend a public meeting held at the Copyright Office on March 20, 1995, to discuss issues

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related to NIEs and registration of restored works. 60 FR 7793 (Feb. 9, 1995).  The Office sent this notice to over ninety authors rights organizations and industry groups, as well as 182 foreign government agencies with copyright authority, to give them the opportunity to respond.  Approximately forty individuals attended the meeting, including representatives from authors’ rights organizations, museums, the publishing industry, the film industry, and the computer software industry. SUP4 Fifteen written comments were submitted.  The Office considered all of these views as it developed proposed procedures for the filing of NIEs and the registering of copyright claims in restored works.  On July 10, the Office published proposed regulations in the Federal Register. 60 FR 35522 (July 10, 1995).

\4\ A copy of all written comments and a summary of the meeting can be found in the Public Information Office of the Copyright Office, Room LM-401, James Madison Memorial Building, Washington, D.C.

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In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Office invited interested parties to submit written comments on the proposed regulations.  The Office received comments from the following parties:  The Association of American Publishers (AAP); Irwin Karp; Janine Lorente, for Societe des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (SACD); Nancy McAleer, for Thomson & Thomson; Bill Patry; David Pierce; Linda Shaughnessy, for AP Watt Ltd.  Literary Agents; Ellen Theg, for International Television Trading Corp.; and Richard Wincor, of Coudert Brothers.

The Office notes that some of the comments received in response to the NPRM had already been addressed, and some called for minor clarifications that have been made to the final regulations.  Other comments, whether raised for the first or second time, raise substantive issues that are discussed below.