Copyrights - 17 USC Section 202

01/19/04

Sec. 202. Ownership of copyright as distinct from ownership of
material object

Ownership of a copyright, or of any of the exclusive rights under
a copyright, is distinct from ownership of any material object in
which the work is embodied. Transfer of ownership of any material
object, including the copy or phonorecord in which the work is
first fixed, does not of itself convey any rights in the
copyrighted work embodied in the object; nor, in the absence of an
agreement, does transfer of ownership of a copyright or of any
exclusive rights under a copyright convey property rights in any
material object.

HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
HOUSE REPORT NO. 94-1476
The principle restated in section 202 is a fundamental and
important one: that copyright ownership and ownership of a material
object in which the copyrighted work is embodied are entirely
separate things. Thus, transfer of a material object does not of
itself carry any rights under the copyright, and this includes
transfer of the copy or phonorecord - the original manuscript, the
photographic negative, the unique painting or statue, the master
tape recording, etc. - in which the work was first fixed.
Conversely, transfer of a copyright does not necessarily require
the conveyance of any material object.
As a result of the interaction of this section and the provisions
of section 204(a) and 301, the bill would change a common law
doctrine exemplified by the decision in Pushman v. New York Graphic
Society, Inc., 287 N.Y. 302, 39 N.E.2d 249 (1942). Under that
doctrine, authors or artists are generally presumed to transfer
common law literary property rights when they sell their manuscript
or work of art, unless those rights are specifically reserved. This
presumption would be reversed under the bill, since a specific
written conveyance of rights would be required in order for a sale
of any material object to carry with it a transfer of copyright.

Last modified: April 19, 2006