Public Domain

Title 14 & 17 Copyright Laws for the United States

Title 14 & 17 references are from the Federal Copyright Office at: https://www.copyright.gov/

All products noted in the historical archive or digital library can be purchased through authorized retailers.

Proud Scholars will not publish recordings, books, movies or any protected content that will produce financial damages to the author.

Title 17, Limitations on exclusive rights: Reproduction by libraries and archives, section 108, page 19, paragraph 2:

                  (a) Except as otherwise provided in this title and notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement of copyright                   for a library or archives, or any of its employees acting within the scope of their employment, to reproduce no more than one copy                   or phonorecord of a work, except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), or to distribute such copy or phonorecord, under the                   conditions specified by this section, if—
                                    (1) the reproduction or distribution is made without any purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage;
                                    (2) the collections of the library or archives are (i) open to the public, or (ii) available not only to researchers affiliated                                     with the library or archives or with the institution of which it is a part, but also to other persons doing research in a                                     specialized field; and
                                    (3) the reproduction or distribution of the work includes a notice of copyright that appears on the copy or phonorecord                                     that is reproduced under the provisions of this section, or includes a legend stating that the work may be protected by                                     copyright if no such notice can be found on the copy or phonorecord that is reproduced under the provisions of this                                     section.

Title 17, copyright infringement and remedies, section 504, page 161, paragraph 1:

In a case where the copyright owner sustains the burden of proving, and the court finds, that infringement was committed willfully, the court in its discretion may increase the award of statutory damages to a sum of not more than $150,000. In a case where the infringer sustains the burden of proving, and the court finds, that such infringer was not aware and had no reason to believe that his or her acts constituted an infringement of copyright, the court in its discretion may reduce the award of statutory damages to a sum of not less than $200. The court shall remit statutory damages in any case where an infringer believed and had reasonable grounds for believing that his or her use of the copyrighted work was a fair use under section 107, if the infringer was:

(i) an employee or agent of a nonprofit educational institution, library, or archives acting within the scope of his or her employment who, or such institution, library, or archives itself, which infringed by reproducing the work in copies or phonorecords; or

(ii) a public broadcasting entity which or a person who, as a regular part of the nonprofit activities of a public broadcasting entity (as defined in section 118(f)) infringed by performing a published nondramatic literary work or by reproducing a transmission program embodying a performance of such a work.

Title 17, Works in the public domain., section 12, page 1, paragraph 1:

Title 17, United States Code, as amended by this Act, does not provide copyright protection for any work that is in the public domain in the United States. Site: Works created but not published or copyrighted before January 1, 1978

Title 17, Circumvention of copyright protection systems, section 1201, page 253, paragraph 2:

                  In order for a library or archives to qualify for the exemption under this subsection, the collections of that library or archives shall                   be—
                                    (A) open to the public; or
                                    (B) available not only to researchers affiliated with the library or archives or with the institution of which it is a part, but                                     also to other persons doing research in a specialized field.

Title 17, Civil Remedies, section 1203, page 263, paragraph 3:

In general.—In the case of a nonprofit library, archives, educational institution, or public broadcasting entity, the court shall remit damages in any case in which the library, archives, educational institution, or public broadcasting entity sustains the burden of proving, and the court finds, that the library, archives, educational institution, or public broadcasting entity was not aware and had no reason to believe that its acts constituted a violation

Title 14, Limitations and Liability, section 2117, chapter 21, paragraph 1:

When letters and other intellectual productions (exclusive of patented material, published works under copyright protection, and unpublished works for which copyright registration has been made) come into the custody or possession of the Archivist, the United States or its agents are not liable for infringement of copyright or analogous rights arising out of use of the materials for display, inspection, research, reproduction, or other purposes.

Title 17, Notice of copyright: Omission of notice on certain copies and phonorecords, section 405, paragraph 2:

Effect of Omission on Innocent Infringers.—Any person who innocently infringes a copyright, in reliance upon an authorized copy or phonorecord from which the copyright notice has been omitted and which was publicly distributed by authority of the copyright owner before the effective date of the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988, incurs no liability for actual or statutory damages under section 504 for any infringing acts committed before receiving actual notice that registration for the work has been made under section 408, if such person proves that he or she was misled by the omission of notice. In a suit for infringement in such a case the court may allow or disallow recovery of any of the infringer’s profits attributable to the infringement, and may enjoin the continuation of the infringing undertaking or may require, as a condition for permitting the continuation of the infringing undertaking, that the infringer pay the copyright owner a reasonable license fee in an amount and on terms fixed by the court.

Title 17, Registration and civil infringement actions, section 411, paragraph 1:

Except for an action brought for a violation of the rights of the author under section 106A(a), and subject to the provisions of subsection (b), no civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until preregistration or registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title.

Title 17, Certification of registration, section 1314, paragraph 1:

Certificates of registration shall be issued in the name of the United States under the seal of the Office of the Administrator and shall be recorded in the official records of the Office. The certificate shall state the name of the useful article, the date of filing of the application, the date of registration, and the date the design was made public, if earlier than the date of filing of the application, and shall contain a reproduction of the drawing or other pictorial representation of the design. If a description of the salient features of the design appears in the application, the description shall also appear in the certificate. A certificate of registration shall be admitted in any court as prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the certificate.

Title 17, Recovery of Infringement, section 1323, paragraph 4:

Infringer’s Profits.—As an alternative to the remedies provided in subsection (a), the court may award the claimant the infringer’s profits resulting from the sale of the copies if the court finds that the infringer’s sales are reasonably related to the use of the claimant’s design. In such a case, the claimant shall be required to prove only the amount of the infringer’s sales and the infringer shall be required to prove its expenses against such sales.

Title 17, Liability for action on registration fraudulently obtained, section 1325, paragraph 1:

Any person who brings an action for infringement knowing that registration of the design was obtained by a false or fraudulent representation materially affecting the rights under this chapter, shall be liable in the sum of $10,000, or such part of that amount as the court may determine. That amount shall be to compensate the defendant and shall be charged against the plaintiff and paid to the defendant, in addition to such costs and attorney’s fees of the defendant as may be assessed by the court.