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Termination of Transfers and Licenses Under 17 U.S.C. §203

Section 203 of the Copyright Act permits authors (or, if the authors are not alive, their surviving spouses, children or grandchildren, or executors, administrators, personal representatives or trustees) to terminate grants of copyright assignments and licenses that were made on or after January 1, 1978 when certain conditions have been met. Notices of termination may be served no earlier than 25 years after the execution of the grant or, if the grant covers the right of publication, no earlier than 30 years after the execution of the grant or 25 years after publication under the grant (whichever comes first). However, termination of a grant cannot be effective until 35 years after the execution of the grant or, if the grant covers the right of publication, no earlier than 40 years after the execution of the grant or 35 years after publication under the grant (whichever comes first).

Because notices of termination under section 203 may be served, at their earliest, 25 years after the execution of a post-1977 grant, the first date on which any section 203 notices of termination could be served was January 1, 2003.

Notices of termination must comply in form, content, and manner with requirements in a regulation issued by the Register of Copyrights. The Register of Copyrights proposed a regulation governing notices of termination under section 203, and sought comments on the regulation. The proposed regulation was based on the existing regulation
governing notices of termination under section 304 of the Copyright Act. Section 304 permits termination of grants of copyright assignments and licenses during the extended renewal term for pre-1978 works, and authors and other qualified successors have been serving notices of termination under section 304 since 1978.

On December 23, 2002, the Register published an interim regulation virtually identical to the proposed regulation, effective January 1, 2003, until the effective date of a final regulation.
On April 8, following a public comment period on the interim regulation, the Register published a final regulation, which is effective May 8, 2003.

Background Documents

  • Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Notices of Termination pursuant to Section 203 published Friday, December 20, 2002.
  • Notice of Interim Regulation for Notices of Termination pursuant to Section 203 published Monday, December 23, 2002.
  • Text of Proposed Regulation, 37 C.F.R. §201.10, as amended
  • Redlined Text of Proposed Regulation, 37 C.F.R. §201.10, as amended, indicating proposed revisions
  • Text of Interim Regulation, 37 C.F.R. §201.10, as amended
  • Redlined Text of Interim Regulation, 37 C.F.R. §201.10, as amended, indicating revisions

Current Documents and Regulation

  • Redlined Text of Final Regulation, 37 C.F.R. §201.10, as amended, indicating revisions
  • Text of Final Regulation, 37 C.F.R. §201.10, as amended
  • Notice of Final Regulation, published April 8, 2003, effective May 8.

U.S. Copyright Office
101 Independence Ave. S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20559-6000
(202) 707-3000

How To Terminate Grants of Copyright Assignments and Licenses.

The copyright office does not provide a form. Notice must be served to the grantee, by
mail, no later than two years before the intended termination date but may be served
up to ten years before the beginning of the five-year period. Please include the
following information in a termination notice letter.

Information that must be sent to the to Grantee (Publisher):

  • Statement stating that this is a notice for Termination of grant of copyright assignments and licenses is being made under Section 203 of title 17 U.S.C.
  • The date of expected termination. No earlier than 25 years after the contract was signed (grant of execution) or, if the grant covers the right of publication, no earlier than 30 years after the execution of the grant (contract) or 25 years after publication under the grant (whichever comes first).
  • Name and address of the author or author’s heirs. In the case of multiple authors, list all authors and addresses.
  • Date the contract was signed and date of first publication.
  • Title of work and author name. If more than one author is listed for a work, termination of the grant or license requires the majority of authors to take action.
  • If available, original copyright number.
  • A brief statement reasonably identifying the grant to which the notice of termination applies (failure to include this information could negatively effect the termination request).
  • Identification of the effective date of termination.
  • Signature of the author or author’s authorized agent. If more than one author is listed for a work, termination of the grant or license requires the majority of authors to take action.

Information that must be sent to the Copyright Office:

A Copy of the notice of termination will be recorded in the Copyright Office upon payment of the fee(s), listed below and upon compliance with the following provisions: (i) The copy submitted for recordation shall be a complete and exact duplicate of the notice of termination as served and shall include the actual signature or signatures, or a
reproduction of the actual signature or signatures, appearing on the notice; where separate copies of the same notice were served on more than one grantee or successor in title, only one copy need be submitted for recordation; and (ii) The copy submitted for recordation shall be accompanied by a statement setting forth the date on which the notice was served and the manner of service, unless such information is contained in the notice.

• Notices of Termination of transfers and licenses under Sections 203 and 304 of the Copyright Act should be addressed to:
U.S. Copyright Office
Notices of Termination
P.O. Box 71537
Washington, DC 20024-1537

Recordation of document, including a notice of intention to enforce and fee for recordation with Copyright Office:
*Single title $105
*Additional titles (per group of 1 to 10 titles) $35

* Data current as of November 23, 2016. Visit Copyright Office website for current fee information:
http://www.copyright.gov/title37/201/37cfr201-3.html Schedule of fees listed under section 201.3(c)(16).