Ownership of copyright
United States Code
Citation analytics
How this statute sits in the citation network, derived from CiteLaw's graph of published opinions.
★Landmark AuthorityTop 1% most-cited · cited by 683 decisions
683
Citing decisions
6+
Courts citing
Citations by decade
3
65
139
162
172
142
1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s2020s
Courts citing this statute
Most recently cited by10
- 2026Estate of George Worrell, Jr. v. Thang, Inc. 6th Cir.
- 2026Lil' Joe Records, Inc. v. Christopher Won, Jr. 11th Cir.
- 2026Chicago Corner, LLC v. Hard Lens Media, Inc.
- 2026Belcher N.D. Ind.
- 2026Conner M.D. Ala.
- 2026Art Akiane, LLC v. Art & Soulworks LLC and Carol Corneliuson v. Akiane Art Gallery, LLC and Akiane Kramarik N.D. Ill.
- 2026Great Bowery Inc. v. Consequence Sound LLC 11th Cir.
- 2025Yellowcake, Inc. v. Morena Music, Inc. E.D. Cal.
- 2025Tammy Livingston v. Jay Livingston Music, Inc. 6th Cir.
- 2025Twin Beauty LLC d/b/a Kool Krafts LLC v. NR Interactive LLC and Nir Rodriguez E.D.N.Y
Counts reflect decisions in the CiteLaw corpus and may lag very recent opinions.
Text
Copyright in a work protected under this title vests initially in the author or authors of the work. The authors of a joint work are coowners of copyright in the work. In the case of a work made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared is considered the author for purposes of this title, and, unless the parties have expressly agreed otherwise in a written instrument signed by them, owns all of the rights comprised in the copyright. Copyright in each separate contribution to a collective work is distinct from copyright in the collective work as a whole, and vests initially in the author of the contribution. In the absence of an express transfer of the copyright or of any rights under it, the owner of copyright in the collective work is presumed to have acquired only the privilege of reproducing and distributing the contribution as part of that particular collective work, any revision of that collective work, and any later collective work in the same series. The ownership of a copyright may be transferred in whole or in part by any means of conveyance or by operation of law, and may be bequeathed by will or pass as personal property by the applicable laws of intestate succession. Any of the exclusive rights comprised in a copyright, including any subdivision of any of the rights specified by section 106, may be transferred as provided by clause (1) and owned separately. The owner of any particular exclusive right is entitled, to the extent of that right, to all of the protection and remedies accorded to the copyright owner by this title. When an individual author’s ownership of a copyright, or of any of the exclusive rights under a copyright, has not previously been transferred voluntarily by that individual author, no action by any governmental body or other official or organization purporting to seize, expropriate, transfer, or exercise rights of ownership with respect to the copyright, or any of the exclusive rights under a copyright, shall be given effect under this title, except as provided under title 11. (Source: (Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2568; Pub. L. 95–598, title III, § 313, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2676.))