Since I made the mistake of opening this off-topic discussion, and since there
have been several people who've written about it in and outside of the forum, I
think it best if I post a somewhat fuller copy of the relevant law.  

When in doubt, leave it out.

-=-=-=-=-

From: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17

U.S.C. TITLE 17 - COPYRIGHTS 
[Selected Extracts]

THIS TITLE WAS ENACTED BY ACT JULY 30, 1947, CH. 391, 61 STAT. 652, AND WAS
REVISED IN ITS ENTIRETY BY PUB. L. 94-553, TITLE I, SEC. 101, OCT. 19, 1976, 90
STAT. 

Chapt. 1. Subject Matter and Scope of Copyright 
Chapt. 2. Copyright Ownership and Transfer 
Chapt. 3. Duration of Copyright 
Chapt. 4. Copyright Notice, Deposit, and Registration 
Chapt. 5. Copyright Infringement and Remedies 
Chapt. 6. Manufacturing Requirement and Importation 
Chapt. 7. Copyright Office 
Chapt. 8. Copyright Royalty Tribunal 
Chapt. 9. Protection of semiconductor chip products 
Chapt. 10. Digital Audio Recording Devices and Media 
Chapt. 11. Sound Recordings and Music Videos 

CHAPTER 1 - SUBJECT MATTER AND SCOPE OF COPYRIGHT 
§ 101. Definitions. 
§ 102. Subject matter of copyright: In general. 
§ 103. Subject matter of copyright: Compilations and derivative works. 
§ 104. Subject matter of copyright: National origin. 
§ 104A. Copyright in restored works. 
§ 105. Subject matter of copyright: United States Government works. 
§ 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works. 
§ 106A. Rights of certain authors to attribution and integrity. 
§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use. 
§ 108. Limitations on exclusive rights: Reproduction by libraries and archives. 
§ 109. Limitations on exclusive rights: Effect of transfer of particular copy or
phonorecord. 
§ 110. Limitations on exclusive rights: Exemption of certain performances and
displays. 
§ 111. Limitations on exclusive rights: Secondary transmissions. 
§ 112. Limitations on exclusive rights: Ephemeral recordings. 
§ 113. Scope of exclusive rights in pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works. 
§ 114. Scope of exclusive rights in sound recordings. 
§ 115. Scope of exclusive rights in nondramatic musical works: Compulsory
license for making and distributing phonorecords. 
§ 116. Negotiated licenses for public performances by means of coin-operated
phonorecord players. 
§ 117. Scope of exclusive rights: Use in conjunction with computers and similar
information systems. 
§ 118. Scope of exclusive rights: Use of certain works in connection with
noncommercial broadcasting. 
§ 119. Limitations on exclusive rights: Secondary transmissions of superstations
and network stations for private home viewing. 
§ 120. Scope of exclusive rights in architectural works. 

CHAPTER 5 - COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND REMEDIES 
§ 501. Infringement of copyright. 
§ 502. Remedies for infringement: Injunctions. 
§ 503. Remedies for infringement: Impounding and disposition of infringing
articles. 
§ 504. Remedies for infringement: Damage and profits. 
§ 505. Remedies for infringement: Costs and attorney's fees. 
§ 506. Criminal offenses. 
§ 507. Limitations on actions. 
§ 508. Notification of filing and determination of actions. 
§ 509. Seizure and forfeiture. 
§ 510. Remedies for alteration of programing by cable systems. 
§ 511. Liability of States, instrumentalities of States, and State officials for
infringement of copyright. 

-=-=-=-=-

§ 101. Definitions 

Except as otherwise provided in this title, as used in this title, the following
terms and their variant forms mean the following: 

An "anonymous work" is a work on the copies or phonorecords of which no natural
person is identified as author. 

An "architectural work" is the design of a building as embodied in any tangible
medium of expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings.
The work includes the overall form as well as the arrangement and composition of
spaces and elements in the design, but does not include individual standard
features. 

"Audiovisual works" are works that consist of a series of related images which
are intrinsically intended to be shown by the use of machines, or devices such
as projectors, viewers, or electronic equipment, together with accompanying
sounds, if any, regardless of the nature of the material objects, such as films
or tapes, in which the works are embodied. 

The "Berne Convention" is the Convention for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works, signed at Berne, Switzerland, on September 9, 1886, and all
acts, protocols, and revisions thereto. 

A work is a "Berne Convention work" if - 

(1) in the case of an unpublished work, one or more of the authors is a national
of a nation adhering to the Berne Convention, or in the case of a published
work, one or more of the authors is a national of a nation adhering to the Berne
Convention on the date of first publication; 

(2) the work was first published in a nation adhering to the Berne Convention,
or was simultaneously first published in a nation adhering to the Berne
Convention and in a foreign nation that does not adhere to the Berne Convention; 

(3) in the case of an audiovisual work - 

 (A) if one or more of the authors is a legal entity, that author has its
headquarters in a nation adhering to the Berne Convention; or 

 (B) if one or more of the authors is an individual, that author is domiciled,
or has his or her habitual residence in, a nation adhering to the Berne
Convention; 

(4) in the case of a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work that is incorporated
in a building or other structure, the building or structure is located in a
nation adhering to the Berne Convention; or  

(5) in the case of an architectural work embodied in a building, such building
is erected in a country adhering to the Berne Convention. For purposes of
paragraph (1), an author who is domiciled in or has his or her habitual
residence in, a nation adhering to the Berne Convention is considered to be a
national of that nation. For purposes of paragraph (2), a work is considered to
have been simultaneously published in two or more nations if its dates of
publication are within 30 days of one another. 

The "best edition" of a work is the edition, published in the United States at
any time before the date of deposit, that the Library of Congress determines to
be most suitable for its purposes. 

A person's "children" are that person's immediate offspring, whether legitimate
or not, and any children legally adopted by that person. 

A "collective work" is a work, such as a periodical issue, anthology, or
encyclopedia, in which a number of contributions, constituting separate and
independent works in themselves, are assembled into a collective whole. 

A "compilation" is a work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting
materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way
that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship.
The term "compilation" includes collective works. 

"Copies" are material objects, other than phonorecords, in which a work is fixed
by any method now known or later developed, and from which the work can be
perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the
aid of a machine or device. The term "copies" includes the material object,
other than a phonorecord, in which the work is first fixed. 

"Copyright owner", with respect to any one of the exclusive rights comprised in
a copyright, refers to the owner of that particular right. 

The "country of origin" of a Berne Convention work, for purposes of section 411,
is the United States if - 

(1) in the case of a published work, the work is first published - 

 (A) in the United States; 

 (B) simultaneously in the United States and another nation or nations adhering
to the Berne Convention, whose law grants a term of copyright protection that is
the same as or longer than the term provided in the United States; 

 (C) simultaneously in the United States and a foreign nation that does not
adhere to the Berne Convention; or 

 (D) in a foreign nation that does not adhere to the Berne Convention, and all
of the authors of the work are nationals, domiciliaries, or habitual residents
of, or in the case of an audiovisual work legal entities with headquarters in,
the United States; 

(2) in the case of an unpublished work, all the authors of the work are
nationals, domiciliaries, or habitual residents of the United States, or, in the
case of an unpublished audiovisual work, all the authors are legal entities with
headquarters in the United States; or 

(3) in the case of a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work incorporated in a
building or structure, the building or structure is located in the United
States. For the purposes of section 411, the "country of origin" of any other
Berne Convention work is not the United States. 

A work is "created" when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first
time; where a work is prepared over a period of time, the portion of it that has
been fixed at any particular time constitutes the work as of that time, and
where the work has been prepared in different versions, each version constitutes
a separate work. 

A "derivative work" is a work based upon one or more preexisting works, such as
a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion
picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or
any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. A work
consisting of editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other
modifications which, as a whole, represent an original work of authorship, is a
"derivative work". 

A "device", "machine", or "process" is one now known or later developed. 

A "digital transmission" is a transmission in whole or in part in a digital or
other non-analog format. 

To "display" a work means to show a copy of it, either directly or by means of a
film, slide, television image, or any other device or process or, in the case of
a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to show individual images
nonsequentially. 

A work is "fixed" in a tangible medium of expression when its embodiment in a
copy or phonorecord, by or under the authority of the author, is sufficiently
permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise
communicated for a period of more than transitory duration. A work consisting of
sounds, images, or both, that are being transmitted, is "fixed" for purposes of
this title if a fixation of the work is being made simultaneously with its
transmission. 

The terms "including" and "such as" are illustrative and not limitative. 

A "joint work" is a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention that
their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a
unitary whole. 

"Literary works" are works, other than audiovisual works, expressed in words,
numbers, or other verbal or numerical symbols or indicia, regardless of the
nature of the material objects, such as books, periodicals, manuscripts,
phonorecords, film, tapes, disks, or cards, in which they are embodied. 

"Motion pictures" are audiovisual works consisting of a series of related images
which, when shown in succession, impart an impression of motion, together with
accompanying sounds, if any. 

To "perform" a work means to recite, render, play, dance, or act it, either
directly or by means of any device or process or, in the case of a motion
picture or other audiovis- ual work, to show its images in any sequence or to
make the sounds accompanying it audible. 

"Phonorecords" are material objects in which sounds, other than those
accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work, are fixed by any method
now known or later developed, and from which the sounds can be perceived,
reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a
machine or device. The term "phonorecords" includes the material object in which
the sounds are first fixed. 

"Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works" include two-dimensional and
three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art, photographs, prints
and art reproductions, maps, globes, charts, diagrams, models, and technical
drawings, including architectural plans. Such works shall include works of
artistic craftsmanship insofar as their form but not their mechanical or
utilitarian aspects are concerned; the design of a useful article, as defined in
this section, shall be considered a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work only
if, and only to the extent that, such design incorporates pictorial, graphic, or
sculptural features that can be identified separately from, and are capable of
existing independently of, the utilitarian aspects of the article. 

A "pseudonymous work" is a work on the copies or phonorecords of which the
author is identified under a fictitious name. 

"Publication" is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the
public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending.
The offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for
purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display,
constitutes publication. A public performance or display of a work does not of
itself constitute publication. 

"Registration", for purposes of sections 205(c)(2), 405, 406, 410(d), 411, 412,
and 506(e), means a registration of a claim in the original or the renewed and
extended term of copyright. 

To perform or display a work "publicly" means - 

(1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where
a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its
social acquaintances is gathered; or 

(2) to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work to
a place specified by clause (1) or to the public, by means of any device or
process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the performance
or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same
time or at different times. "Sound recordings" are works that result from the
fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the
sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work, regardless of
the nature of the material objects, such as disks, tapes, or other phonorecords,
in which they are embodied. 

"State" includes the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
and any territories to which this title is made applicable by an Act of
Congress. 

A "transfer of copyright ownership" is an assignment, mortgage, exclusive
license, or any other conveyance, alienation, or hypothecation of a copyright or
of any of the exclusive rights comprised in a copyright, whether or not it is
limited in time or place of effect, but not including a nonexclusive license. 

A "transmission program" is a body of material that, as an aggregate, has been
produced for the sole purpose of transmission to the public in sequence and as a
unit. 

To "transmit" a performance or display is to communicate it by any device or
process whereby images or sounds are received beyond the place from which they
are sent. 

The "United States", when used in a geographical sense, comprises the several
States, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the
organized territories under the jurisdiction of the United States Government. 

A "useful article" is an article having an intrinsic utilitarian function that
is not merely to portray the appearance of the article or to convey information.
An article that is normally a part of a useful article is considered a "useful
article". 

The author's "widow" or "widower" is the author's surviving spouse under the law
of the author's domicile at the time of his or her death, whether or not the
spouse has later remarried. 

A "work of visual art" is - 

(1) a painting, drawing, print, or sculpture, existing in a single copy, in a
limited edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and consecutively
numbered by the author, or, in the case of a sculpture, in multiple cast,
carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively numbered
by the author and bear the signature or other identifying mark of the author; or 

(2) a still photographic image produced for exhibition purposes only, existing
in a single copy that is signed by the author, or in a limited edition of 200
copies or fewer that are signed and consecutively numbered by the author. 

A work of visual art does not include - 

 (A)(i) any poster, map, globe, chart, technical drawing, diagram, model,
applied art, motion picture or other audiovisual work, book, magazine,
newspaper, periodical, data base, electronic information service, electronic
publication, or similar publication; 

 (ii) any merchandising item or advertising, promotional, descriptive, covering,
or packaging material or container; 

 (iii) any portion or part of any item described in clause (i) or (ii); 

 (B) any work made for hire; or 

 (C) any work not subject to copyright protection under this title. A "work of
the United States Government" is a work prepared by an officer or employee of
the United States Government as part of that person's official duties. 

A "work made for hire" is - 

(1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or 

(2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a
collective work, as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, as a
translation, as a supplementary work, as a compilation, as an instructional
text, as a test, as answer material for a test, or as an atlas, if the parties
expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be
considered a work made for hire. For the purpose of the foregoing sentence, a
"supplementary work" is a work prepared for publication as a secondary adjunct
to a work by another author for the purpose of introducing, concluding,
illustrating, explaining, revising, commenting upon, or assisting in the use of
the other work, such as forewords, afterwords, pictorial illustrations, maps,
charts, tables, editorial notes, musical arrangements, answer material for
tests, bibliographies, appendixes, and indexes, and an "instructional text" is a
literary, pictorial, or graphic work prepared for publication and with the
purpose of use in systematic instructional activities. A "computer program" is a
set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a
computer in order to bring about a certain result. 

-=-=-=-=-

§ 102. Subject matter of copyright: In general 

(a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original
works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or
later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise
communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of
authorship include the following categories: 

 (1) literary works; 

 (2) musical works, including any accompanying words; 

 (3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music; 

 (4) pantomimes and choreographic works; 

 (5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; 

 (6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works; 

 (7) sound recordings; and 

 (8) architectural works. 

(b) In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship
extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept,
principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described,
explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work. 

-=-=-=-=-

§ 103. Subject matter of copyright: Compilations and derivative works 

(a) The subject matter of copyright as specified by section 102 includes
compilations and derivative works, but protection for a work employing
preexisting material in which copyright subsists does not extend to any part of
the work in which such material has been used unlawfully. 

(b) The copyright in a compilation or derivative work extends only to the
material contributed by the author of such work, as distinguished from the
preexisting material employed in the work, and does not imply any exclusive
right in the preexisting material. The copyright in such work is independent of,
and does not affect or enlarge the scope, duration, ownership, or subsistence
of, any copyright protection in the preexisting material. 

-=-=-=-=-

§ 104. Subject matter of copyright: National origin 

(a) Unpublished Works. - The works specified by sections 102 and 103, while
unpublished, are subject to protection under this title without regard to the
nationality or domicile of the author. 

(b) Published Works. - The works specified by sections 102 and 103, when
published, are subject to protection under this title if - 

 (1) on the date of first publication, one or more of the authors is a national
or domiciliary of the United States, or is a national, domiciliary, or sovereign
authority of a foreign nation that is a party to a copyright treaty to which the
United States is also a party, or is a stateless person, wherever that person
may be domiciled; or 

 (2) the work is first published in the United States or in a foreign nation
that, on the date of first publication, is a party to the Universal Copyright
Convention; or 

 (3) the work is first published by the United Nations or any of its specialized
agencies, or by the Organization of American States; or 

 (4) the work is a Berne Convention work; or 

 (5) the work comes within the scope of a Presidential proclamation. Whenever
the President finds that a particular foreign nation extends, to works by
authors who are nationals or domiciliaries of the United States or to works that
are first published in the United States, copyright protection on substantially
the same basis as that on which the foreign nation extends protection to works
of its own nationals and domiciliaries and works first published in that nation,
the President may by proclamation extend protection under this title to works of
which one or more of the authors is, on the date of first publication, a
national, domiciliary, or sovereign authority of that nation, or which was first
published in that nation. The President may revise, suspend, or revoke any such
proclamation or impose any conditions or limitations on protection under a
proclamation. 

(c) Effect of Berne Convention. - No right or interest in a work eligible for
protection under this title may be claimed by virtue of, or in reliance upon,
the provisions of the Berne Convention, or the adherence of the United States
thereto. Any rights in a work eligible for protection under this title that
derive from this title, other Federal or State statutes, or the common law,
shall not be expanded or reduced by virtue of, or in reliance upon, the
provisions of the Berne Convention, or the adherence of the United States
thereto. 

-=-=-=-=-

§ 105. Subject matter of copyright: United States Government works 

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
receiving and holding copyrights transferred to it by assignment, bequest, or
otherwise. 

-=-=-=-=-

§ 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works

Subject to sections 107 through 120, the owner of copyright under this title has
the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following: 

(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, including 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 perform the copyrighted work publicly by
means of a digital audio transmission. 

-=-=-=-=-

§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use 

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a
copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords
or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism,
comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use),
scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining
whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors
to be considered shall include - 

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a
commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; 

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work; 

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the
copyrighted work as a whole; and 

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the
copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a
finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above
factors. 

-=-=-=-=-

§ 504. Remedies for infringement: Damages and profits 

(a) In General. - Except as otherwise provided by this title, an infringer of
copyright is liable for either - 

 (1) the copyright owner's actual damages and any additional profits of the
infringer, as provided by subsection (b); or 

 (2) statutory damages, as provided by subsection (c). 

(b) Actual Damages and Profits. - The copyright owner is entitled to recover the
actual damages suffered by him or her as a result of the infringement, and any
profits of the infringer that are attributable to the infringement and are not
taken into account in computing the actual damages. In establishing the
infringer's profits, the copyright owner is required to present proof only of
the infringer's gross revenue, and the infringer is required to prove his or her
deductible expenses and the elements of profit attributable to factors other
than the copyrighted work. 

(c) Statutory Damages. - 

 (1) Except as provided by clause (2) of this subsection, the copyright owner
may elect, at any time before final judgment is rendered, to recover, instead of
actual damages and profits, an award of statutory damages for all infringements
involved in the action, with respect to any one work, for which any one
infringer is liable individually, or for which any two or more infringers are
liable jointly and severally, in a sum of not less than $500 or more than
$20,000 as the court considers just. For the purposes of this subsection, all
the parts of a compilation or derivative work constitute one work. 

 (2) 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
$100,000. 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 it (FOOTNOTE
1) 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
subsection (g) of section 118) infringed by performing a published nondramatic
literary work or by reproducing a transmission program embodying a performance
of such a work. 

(FOOTNOTE 1) So in original. Probably should be "in". 

-=-=-=-=-

§ 505. Remedies for infringement: Costs and attorney's fees 

In any civil action under this title, the court in its discretion may allow the
recovery of full costs by or against any party other than the United States or
an officer thereof. Except as otherwise provided by this title, the court may
also award a reasonable attorney's fee to the prevailing party as part of the
costs. 

-=-=-=-=-

§ 507. Limitations on actions 

(a) Criminal Proceedings. - No criminal proceeding shall be maintained under the
provisions of this title unless it is commenced within three years after the
cause of action arose. 

(b) Civil Actions. - No civil action shall be maintained under the provisions of
this title unless it is commenced within three years after the claim accrued.

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