Copyright Act of 1976

Copyright Act of 1976
Long title	An Act for the general revision of the Copyright Law, title 17 of the United States Code, and for other purposes
Enacted by	the 94th United States Congress
Effective	January 1, 1978
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 94–553
Statutes at Large	90 Stat. 2541
Codification
Acts amended	Copyright Act of 1909
Titles amended	17 (Copyright)
U.S.C. sections created	17 U.S.C. §§ 101-810
U.S.C. sections amended	44 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 (D–AR) 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 (97-0); Passed the House on September 30, 1976 (316-7); 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
	Visual Artists Rights Act; Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988; Copyright Renewal Act of 1992; Audio Home Recording Act; No Electronic Theft Act; Copyright Term Extension Act; Digital Millennium Copyright Act; Family Entertainment and Copyright Act; Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act;

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.^[1] 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; most parts of the law went into effect on January 1, 1978.^[2]

US Register of Copyrights Barbara Ringer took an active role in drafting the statute.^[3]

^ "Copyright Law of the United States | U.S. Copyright Office". www.copyright.gov. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
^ Mark A. Lillis, ed. (1985). Decisions of the United States Courts Involving Copyright, 1979. Washington, D.C. : Copyright Office, Library of Congress. pp. 311–.
^ "Barbara A. Ringer '49". Archived from the original on June 2, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.

[1] "Copyright Law of the United States | U.S. Copyright Office". www.copyright.gov. Retrieved September 5, 2025.

[2] Mark A. Lillis, ed. (1985). Decisions of the United States Courts Involving Copyright, 1979. Washington, D.C. : Copyright Office, Library of Congress. pp. 311–.

[CLSbio-3] "Barbara A. Ringer '49". Archived from the original on June 2, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.

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