Talk:Copyright Act of 1976

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[edit] Software?

I noticed that this does not mention that software can recieve copyright protection (not too hard to believe, as software was virtually unheard of in 1976). I know it can, so did a court case decide that one of the listed subject matters include copyright? Maybe some other reason?

The 1978 law was amended in 1980 to include computer software under the category of "literary works" (Title 17, Sect. 102) and permit certain modifications of computer software (Title 17, Sect. 117). [1] --99.238.29.245 03:09, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Registration & deposit

The section "Registration & deposit" is a good summary of the R&D provisions of the 1976 Act. However, most of this article is about changes made by the 1976 Act, and the registration and deposit provisions are mostly unchanged between the 1909 Act and the 1976 Act. The only real differences touched on here are :

1. Under the 1976 Act only registration is (ordinarily) required as a condition of bringing suit, whereas under the 1909 Act, both registration and deposit were required.
2. Under the 1976 Act, if registration is refused, the copyright claimant is still able to bring suit, so long as the Copyright Office is given notice and allowed to join the suit; this option was not present under the 1909 Act.

The article suggests that the features of the 1976 Act listed here are those that are new to it. I propose to limit it to the differences, or at least make it more clear which features are actually different. Objections? -- TJRC (talk) 01:00, 6 February 2008 (UTC)