Copyright Act of 1976

The Copyright Act of 1976 is a United States copyright law and remains the primary basis of copyright law in the United States, as amended by several later enacted copyright provisions. The Act spells out the basic rights of copyright holders, codified the doctrine of "fair use", and for most new copyrights adopted a unitary term based on the date of the author's death rather than the prior scheme of fixed initial and renewal terms. It became Public Law number 94-553 on October 19, 1976 and went into effect on January 1, 1978.

Copyright Act of 1976
Long titleAn Act for the general revision of the Copyright Law, title 17 of the United States Code, and for other purposes
Enacted bythe 94th United States Congress
EffectiveJanuary 1, 1978
Citations
Public lawPub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 94–553
Statutes at Large90 Stat. 2541
Codification
Acts amendedCopyright Act of 1909
Titles amended17 (Copyright)
U.S.C. sections created17 U.S.C. §§ 101-810
U.S.C. sections amended44 U.S.C. §§ 505, 2113; 18 U.S.C. § 2318
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the United States Senate as S.22 by John Little McClellan (DAR) on January 15, 1975
  • Committee consideration by House Judiciary Committee (Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice); Senate Judiciary Committee
  • Passed the Senate on February 19, 1976 
  • Passed the House on September 30, 1976 
  • Reported by the joint conference committee on September 29, 1976; agreed to by the Senate on September 30, 1976  and by the House on September 30, 1976 
  • Signed into law by President Gerald Ford on October 19, 1976
Major amendments

US Register of Copyrights Barbara Ringer took an active role in drafting the statute.

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