How Do I Terminate?
Section 203 of the Copyright Act applies to any contract entered into as of January 1, 1978. (It is important to note that section 304(c) applies to transfers of rights occurring before 1978. 35 years after the grant, a five-year window opens in which the rights can revert to the creator or other holder of the termination interests. But, if the grant was for first publication rights, the start of the termination window is the earlier of 35 years from publication, or 40 years from the grant.
In order to terminate the grant, the creator or holder of the termination interests must serve a written notice between two and ten years prior to when the termination of transferred rights will occur. Thus, the first opportunity to service notice of termination under Section 203 is 25 years after the grant, and the last opportunity is 38 years after rights were transferred.
The notice must state the effective date of the termination, which should fall within the five-year termination window.
A copy of the notice must be filed with the Copyright Office before the effective date of the termination. [link to copyright office information on this]
The notice and the manner in which it is served must comply with regulations issued by the Register of Copyrights.
Example: Termination timeline for rights assigned in 1978:
Example: Termination timeline for publication rights assigned in 1978:
For more information on Termination, see the Copyright Office's page on termination.
