17 U.S.C. §105 — Subject matter of copyright: United States Government works

Page 20TITLE 17—COPYRIGHTS§ 105
Editorial Notes
REFERENCES IN TEXT
The date of the enactment of the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act, referred to in subsecs. (d)(3)(A) and
(h)(3), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 103–465, which
was approved Dec. 8, 1994.
Section 101(d)(15) of the Uruguay Round Agreements
Act, referred to in subsec. (e)(1)(D)(i), is classified to
section 3511(d)(15) of Title 19, Customs Duties.
A
MENDMENTS
1998—Subsec. (h)(1)(A) to (E). Pub. L. 105–304,
§ 102(c)(1), added subpars. (A) to (E) and struck out
former subpars. (A) and (B) which read as follows:
‘‘(A) a nation adhering to the Berne Convention or a
WTO member country; or
‘‘(B) subject to a Presidential proclamation under
subsection (g).’’
Subsec. (h)(3). Pub. L. 105–304, § 102(c)(2), amended par.
(3) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (3) read as fol -
lows: ‘‘The term ‘eligible country’ means a nation,
other than the United States, that—
‘‘(A) becomes a WTO member country after the date
of the enactment of the Uruguay Round Agreements
Act;
‘‘(B) on such date of enactment is, or after such
date of enactment becomes, a member of the Berne
Convention; or
‘‘(C) after such date of enactment becomes subject
to a proclamation under subsection (g).
For purposes of this section, a nation that is a member
of the Berne Convention on the date of the enactment
of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act shall be con -
strued to become an eligible country on such date of
enactment.’’
Subsec. (h)(6)(E). Pub. L. 105–304, § 102(c)(3), added sub-
par. (E).
Subsec. (h)(8)(B)(i). Pub. L. 105–304, § 102(c)(4), inserted
‘‘of which’’ before ‘‘the majority’’ and struck out ‘‘of
eligible countries’’ after ‘‘domiciliaries’’.
Subsec. (h)(9). Pub. L. 105–304, § 102(c)(5), struck out
par. (9) which read as follows: ‘‘The terms ‘WTO Agree -
ment’ and ‘WTO member country’ have the meanings
given those terms in paragraphs (9) and (10), respec -
tively, of section 2 of the Uruguay Round Agreements
Act.’’
1997—Subsec. (d)(3)(A). Pub. L. 105–80, § 2(1), amended
subpar. (A) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (A)
read as follows: ‘‘In the case of a derivative work that
is based upon a restored work and is created—
‘‘(i) before the date of the enactment of the Uru -
guay Round Agreements Act, if the source country of
the derivative work is an eligible country on such
date, or
‘‘(ii) before the date of adherence or proclamation,
if the source country of the derivative work is not an
eligible country on such date of enactment,
a reliance party may continue to exploit that work for
the duration of the restored copyright if the reliance
party pays to the owner of the restored copyright rea -
sonable compensation for conduct which would be sub -
ject to a remedy for infringement but for the provisions
of this paragraph.’’
Subsec. (e)(1)(B)(ii). Pub. L. 105–80, § 2(2), struck out
at end ‘‘Such list shall also be published in the Federal
Register on an annual basis for the first 2 years after
the applicable date of restoration.’’
Subsec. (h)(2), (3). Pub. L. 105–80, § 2(3), (4), amended
pars. (2) and (3) generally. Prior to amendment, pars.
(2) and (3) read as follows:
‘‘(2) The ‘date of restoration’ of a restored copyright
is the later of—
‘‘(A) the date on which the Agreement on Trade-Re -
lated Aspects of Intellectual Property referred to in
section 101(d)(15) of the Uruguay Round Agreements
Act enters into force with respect to the United
States, if the source country of the restored work is
a nation adhering to the Berne Convention or a WTO
member country on such date; or
‘‘(B) the date of adherence or proclamation, in the
case of any other source country of the restored
work.
‘‘(3) The term ‘eligible country’ means a nation, other
than the United States, that is a WTO member coun -
try, adheres to the Berne Convention, or is subject to
a proclamation under subsection (g).’’
1996—Subsec. (h)(3). Pub. L. 104–295 substituted ‘‘sub -
section (g)’’ for ‘‘section 104A(g)’’.
1994—Pub. L. 103–465 substituted ‘‘Copyright in re -
stored works’’ for ‘‘Copyright in certain motion pic -
tures’’ as section catchline and amended text generally,
substituting present provisions for provisions restoring
copyright in certain motion pictures and providing for
effective date of protection as well as use of previously
owned copies.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
E
FFECTIVE DATE OF 1998 A MENDMENT
Subsec. (h)(1)(A), (B), (E), (3)(A), (B), (E) of this sec -
tion and amendment by section 102(c)(4), (5) of Pub. L.
105–304 effective Oct. 28, 1998, except as otherwise pro -
vided, subsec. (h)(1)(C), (3)(C) of this section effective
Mar. 6, 2002, and subsec. (h)(1)(D), (3)(D) of this section
and amendment by section 102(c)(3) of Pub. L. 105–304
effective May 20, 2002, see section 105(a), (b)(1)(C), (D),
(2)(D)–(F) of Pub. L. 105–304, set out as a note under sec-
tion 101 of this title.
E
FFECTIVE DATE
Section effective on the date the North American
Free Trade Agreement enters into force with respect to
the United States (Jan. 1, 1994), see section 335(a) of
Pub. L. 103–182, formerly set out in an Effective Date of
1993 Amendment note under section 1052 of Title 15,
Commerce and Trade.
Executive Documents
U
RUGUAY ROUND AGREEMENTS: E NTRY INTO FORCE
The Uruguay Round Agreements, including the World
Trade Organization Agreement and agreements an -
nexed to that Agreement, as referred to in section
3511(d) of Title 19, Customs Duties, entered into force
with respect to the United States on Jan. 1, 1995. See
note set out under section 3511 of Title 19.
§ 105. Subject matter of copyright: United States
Government works
(a) I N GENERAL.—Copyright protection under
this title is not available for any work of the
United States Government, but the United
States Government is not precluded from receiv-
ing and holding copyrights transferred to it by
assignment, bequest, or otherwise.
(b) C
OPYRIGHT PROTECTION OF CERTAIN
WORKS.—Subject to subsection (c), the covered
author of a covered work owns the copyright to
that covered work.
(c) U
SE BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—
(1) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE AUTHORITY .—With
respect to a covered author who produces a
covered work in the course of employment at
a covered institution described in subpara -
graphs (A) through (K) of subsection (d)(2) and
subparagraph (L) of such subsection when the
Coast Guard is operating as a service in the
Navy, the Secretary of Defense may direct the
covered author to provide the Federal Govern -
ment with an irrevocable, royalty-free, world -
wide, nonexclusive license to reproduce, dis -
tribute, perform, or display such covered work
for purposes of the United States Government.
(2) S
ECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT IN WHICH
THE COAST GUARD IS OPERATING WHEN IT IS NOT

Page 21 TITLE 17—COPYRIGHTS § 105
OPERATING AS A SERVICE IN THE NAVY AUTHOR -
ITY.—With respect to a covered author who
produces a covered work in the course of em -
ployment at the covered institution described
in subsection (d)(2)(L), the Secretary of the
Department in which the Coast Guard is oper -
ating when it is not operating as a service in
the Navy may direct the covered author to
provide the Federal Government with an irrev-
ocable, royalty-free, worldwide, nonexclusive
license to reproduce, distribute, perform, or
display such covered work for purposes of the
United States Government.
(3) D
IRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE AU -
THORITY.—With respect to a covered author
who produces a covered work in the course of
employment at the covered institution de -
scribed in subsection (d)(2)(M), the Director of
National Intelligence may direct the covered
author to provide the Federal Government
with an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide,
nonexclusive license to reproduce, distribute,
perform, or display such covered work for pur -
poses of the United States Government.
(4) S
ECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION AUTHOR -
ITY.—With respect to a covered author who
produces a covered work in the course of em -
ployment at the covered institution described
in subsection (d)(2)(N), the Secretary of Trans -
portation may direct the covered author to
provide the Federal Government with an irrev-
ocable, royalty-free, worldwide, nonexclusive
license to reproduce, distribute, perform, or
display such covered work for purposes of the
United States Government.
(d) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) COVERED AUTHOR.—The term ‘‘covered au -
thor’’ means a civilian member of the faculty
of a covered institution.
(2) C
OVERED INSTITUTION .—The term ‘‘cov -
ered institution’’ means the following:
(A) National Defense University.
(B) United States Military Academy.
(C) Army War College.
(D) United States Army Command and
General Staff College.
(E) United States Naval Academy.
(F) Naval War College.
(G) Naval Postgraduate School.
(H) Marine Corps University.
(I) United States Air Force Academy.
(J) Air University.
(K) Defense Language Institute.
(L) United States Coast Guard Academy.
(M) National Intelligence University.
(N) United States Merchant Marine Acad -
emy.
(3) C
OVERED WORK .—The term ‘‘covered
work’’ means a literary work produced by a
covered author in the course of employment at
a covered institution for publication by a
scholarly press or journal.
(Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat.
2546; Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title V, § 544, Dec. 20,
2019, 133 Stat. 1376; Pub. L. 117–263, div. C, title
XXXV, § 3514, div. F, title LXIII, § 6306, Dec. 23,
2022, 136 Stat. 3068, 3504; Pub. L. 118–159, div. F,
title LXIX, § 6902(e), Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 2518.)
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
HOUSE REPORT NO . 94–1476
Scope of the Prohibition. The basic premise of section
105 of the bill is the same as that of section 8 of the
present law [section 8 of former title 17]—that works
produced for the U.S. Government by its officers and
employees should not be subject to copyright. The pro -
vision applies the principle equally to unpublished and
published works.
The general prohibition against copyright in section
105 applies to ‘‘any work of the United States Govern -
ment,’’ which is defined in section 101 as ‘‘a work pre -
pared by an officer or employee of the United States
Government as part of that person’s official duties.’’
Under this definition a Government official or em -
ployee would not be prevented from securing copyright
in a work written at that person’s own volition and
outside his or her duties, even though the subject mat -
ter involves the Government work or professional field
of the official or employee. Although the wording of the
definition of ‘‘work of the United States Government’’
differs somewhat from that of the definition of ‘‘work
made for hire,’’ the concepts are intended to be con -
strued in the same way.
A more difficult and far-reaching problem is whether
the definition should be broadened to prohibit copy -
right in works prepared under U.S. Government con -
tract or grant. As the bill is written, the Government
agency concerned could determine in each case whether
to allow an independent contractor or grantee, to se -
cure copyright in works prepared in whole or in part
with the use of Government funds. The argument that
has been made against allowing copyright in this situa-
tion is that the public should not be required to pay a
‘‘double subsidy,’’ and that it is inconsistent to pro -
hibit copyright in works by Government employees
while permitting private copyrights in a growing body
of works created by persons who are paid with Govern -
ment funds. Those arguing in favor of potential copy -
right protection have stressed the importance of copy -
right as an incentive to creation and dissemination in
this situation, and the basically different policy consid-
erations, applicable to works written by Government
employees and those applicable to works prepared by
private organizations with the use of Federal funds.
The bill deliberately avoids making any sort of out -
right, unqualified prohibition against copyright in
works prepared under Government contract or grant.
There may well be cases where it would be in the public
interest to deny copyright in the writings generated by
Government research contracts and the like; it can be
assumed that, where a Government agency commis -
sions a work for its own use merely as an alternative
to having one of its own employees prepare the work,
the right to secure a private copyright would be with -
held. However, there are almost certainly many other
cases where the denial of copyright protection would be
unfair or would hamper the production and publication
of important works. Where, under the particular cir -
cumstances, Congress or the agency involved finds that
the need to have a work freely available outweighs the
need of the private author to secure copyright, the
problem can be dealt with by specific legislation, agen -
cy regulations, or contractual restrictions.
The prohibition on copyright protection for United
States Government works is not intended to have any
effect on protection of these works abroad. Works of
the governments of most other countries are copy -
righted. There are no valid policy reasons for denying
such protection to United States Government works in
foreign countries, or for precluding the Government
from making licenses for the use of its works abroad.
The effect of section 105 is intended to place all works
of the United States Government, published or unpub -
lished, in the public domain. This means that the indi -
vidual Government official or employee who wrote the
work could not secure copyright in it or restrain its
dissemination by the Government or anyone else, but it
also means that, as far as the copyright law is con -

Page 22TITLE 17—COPYRIGHTS§ 106
cerned, the Government could not restrain the em -
ployee or official from disseminating the work if he or
she chooses to do so. The use of the term ‘‘work of the
United States Government’’ does not mean that a work
falling within the definition of that term is the prop -
erty of the U.S. Government.
LIMITED EXCEPTION FOR NATIONAL TECHNICAL
INFORMATION SERVICE
At the House hearings in 1975 the U.S. Department of
Commerce called attention to its National Technical
Information Service (NTIS), which has a statutory
mandate, under Chapter 23 [§ 1151 et seq.] of Title 15 of
the U.S. Code, to operate a clearinghouse for the collec-
tion and dissemination of scientific, technical and engi-
neering information. Under its statute, NTIS is re -
quired to be as self-sustaining as possible, and not to
force the general public to bear publishing costs that
are for private benefit. The Department urged an
amendment to section 105 that would allow it to secure
copyright in NTIS publications both in the United
States and abroad, noting that a precedent exists in the
Standard Reference Data Act (15 U.S.C. § 290(e) [§ 290e]).
In response to this request the Committee adopted a
limited exception to the general prohibition in section
105, permitting the Secretary of Commerce to ‘‘secure
copyright for a limited term not to exceed five years,
on behalf of the United States as author or copyright
owner’’ in any NTIS publication disseminated pursuant
to 15 U.S.C. Chapter 23 [§ 1151 et seq.]. In order to ‘‘se -
cure copyright’’ in a work under this amendment the
Secretary would be required to publish the work with
a copyright notice, and the five-year term would begin
upon the date of first publication.
Proposed Saving Clause. Section 8 of the statute now
in effect [section 8 of former title 17] includes a saving
clause intended to make clear that the copyright pro -
tection of a private work is not affected if the work is
published by the Government. This provision serves a
real purpose in the present law because of the ambi -
guity of the undefined term ‘‘any publication of the
United States Government.’’ Section 105 of the bill,
however, uses the operative term ‘‘work of the United
States Government’’ and defines it in such a way that
privately written works are clearly excluded from the
prohibition; accordingly, a saving clause becomes su -
perfluous.
Retention of a saving clause has been urged on the
ground that the present statutory provision is fre -
quently cited, and that having the provision expressly
stated in the law would avoid questions and expla -
nations. The committee here observes: (1) there is noth-
ing in section 105 that would relieve the Government of
its obligation to secure permission in order to publish
a copyrighted work; and (2) publication or other use by
the Government of a private work would not affect its
copyright protection in any way. The question of use of
copyrighted material in documents published by the
Congress and its Committees is discussed below in con -
nection with section 107.
Works of the United States Postal Service. The intent
of section 105 [this section] is to restrict the prohibi -
tion against Government copyright to works written
by employees of the United States Government within
the scope of their official duties. In accordance with
the objectives of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970
[Pub. L. 91–375, which enacted title 39, Postal Service],
this section does not apply to works created by employ-
ees of the United States Postal Service. In addition to
enforcing the criminal statutes proscribing the forgery
or counterfeiting of postage stamps, the Postal Service
could, if it chooses, use the copyright law to prevent
the reproduction of postage stamp designs for private
or commercial non-postal services (for example, in phil-
atelic publications and catalogs, in general advertising,
in art reproductions, in textile designs, and so forth).
However, any copyright claimed by the Postal Service
in its works, including postage stamp designs, would be
subject to the same conditions, formalities, and time
limits as other copyrightable works.
Editorial Notes
A
MENDMENTS
2024—Pub. L. 118–159 amended section generally. Prior
to amendment, section related to copyright protection
for United States Government works.
2022—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 117–263, § 3514(1), substituted
‘‘Certain Works’’ for ‘‘Certain of Works’’ in heading.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 117–263, § 6306(2), added subsec. (c)
and struck out former subsec. (c). Text read as follows:
‘‘A covered Secretary may direct the covered author of
a covered work to provide the Federal Government
with an irrevocable, royalty-free, world-wide, nonexclu-
sive license to reproduce, distribute, perform, or dis -
play such covered work for purposes of the United
States Government.’’
Pub. L. 117–263, § 3514(2), substituted ‘‘A covered Sec -
retary’’ for ‘‘The Secretary of Defense’’.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 117–263, §§ 3514(3), 6306(1), made
identical amendments, redesignating subsec. (c) relat -
ing to definitions as (d).
Subsec. (d)(2)(M). Pub. L. 117–263, § 6306(3), added sub -
par. (M) relating to National Intelligence University.
Pub. L. 117–263, § 3514(4)(A), added subpar. (M) relating
to United States Merchant Marine Academy.
Subsec. (d)(3), (4). Pub. L. 117–263, § 3514(4)(B), (C),
added par. (3) and redesignated former par. (3) as (4).
2019—Pub. L. 116–92 designated existing provisions as
subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added subsec. (b) and
two subsecs. (c). Heading of subsec. (a) was conformed
to the style used in this title.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
C
OORDINATION WITH OTHER AMENDMENTS MADE BY
DIVISION F OF PUB. L. 118–159
Pub. L. 118–159, div. F, title LXIX, § 6902(f), Dec. 23,
2024, 138 Stat. 2519, provided that: ‘‘For purposes of ap -
plying amendments made by provisions of this division
[div. F of Pub. L. 118–159, see Tables for classification]
other than this section, the amendments made by this
section [amending this section and sections 3024, 3033,
3232a, 3234, 3244, 3304, and 3614 of Title 50, War and Na -
tional Defense] shall be treated as having been enacted
immediately before any such amendments by other
provisions of this division.’’
§ 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works
Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner
of copyright under this title has the exclusive
rights to do and to authorize any of the fol -
lowing:
(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in
copies or phonorecords;
(2) to prepare derivative works based upon
the copyrighted work;
(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of
the copyrighted work to the public by sale or
other transfer of ownership, or by rental,
lease, or lending;
(4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic,
and choreographic works, pantomimes, and
motion pictures and other audiovisual works,
to perform the copyrighted work publicly;
(5) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic,
and choreographic works, pantomimes, and
pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, includ -
ing the individual images of a motion picture
or other audiovisual work, to display the
copyrighted work publicly; and
(6) in the case of sound recordings, to per -
form the copyrighted work publicly by means
of a digital audio transmission.
(Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat.
2546; Pub. L. 101–318, § 3(d), July 3, 1990, 104 Stat.