This is a brief excerpt from the document you requested from IFAR’s Art Law & Cultural Property Database.
Statute
Copyrights, 17 U.S.C. § 202, (Copyright Act of 1976), Ownership of Copyright as Distinct from Ownership of Material Object
Citation
17 U.S.C. § 202 (2007)
Summary
17 U.S.C. § 202 provides that ownership of a copyright is distinct from the ownership of the material object in which the work is embodied. Absent an agreement, a conveyance of the ownership of the material object does not in of itself convey any rights in the copyrighted work embodied in the object, and a conveyance of rights under a copyright does not convey ownership of the material object.
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