Description

This volume contains the text of the title 17 of the United States Code, including all amendments enacted through December 9, 2010, in the second session of the 111th Congress. This publication includes the Copyright Act of 1976 and all subsequent amendments to copyright law; the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984, as amended; and the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act, as amended. The Copyright Office is responsible for registering intellectual property claims under all three.
The United States copyright law is contained in chapters 1 through 8 and 10 through 12 of title 17 of the Untied States Code. The Copyright Act of 1976, which provides the basic framework for the current copyright law, was enacted on October 19. 1976, as Pub. L. No. 94-553, 90 Stat, 2541. The 1976 Act was a comprehensive revision of the copyright law in title 17.
Chapters 9 and 13 of title 17 contain two types of design protection that are independent of copyright protection. Chapter 9 of title 17 is the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984 (SCPA), as amended. On November 8, 1984, the SCPA was eneacted as title III of Pub. L. No. 98-620, 98 Stat. 3335, 3347. Chapter 13 of title 17 is the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act (VHDPA). It was enacted on October 28, 1998, as title V of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Pub. L. No. 105-304, 112 Stat. 2860, 2905.
Significant copyright legislation enacted since the last printed edition of this circular in October 2007 includes the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010.