COPYRIGHT ACT

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17 USC Sec. 901 - Definitions

      (a) As used in this chapter -

        (1) a ''semiconductor chip product'' is the final or

      intermediate form of any product -

          (A) having two or more layers of metallic, insulating, or

        semiconductor material, deposited or otherwise placed on, or

        etched away or otherwise removed from, a piece of semiconductor

        material in accordance with a predetermined pattern; and

          (B) intended to perform electronic circuitry functions;

        (2) a ''mask work'' is a series of related images, however

      fixed or encoded -

          (A) having or representing the predetermined,

        three-dimensional pattern of metallic, insulating, or

        semiconductor material present or removed from the layers of a

        semiconductor chip product; and

          (B) in which series the relation of the images to one another

        is that each image has the pattern of the surface of one form

        of the semiconductor chip product;

        (3) a mask work is ''fixed'' in a semiconductor chip product

      when its embodiment in the product is sufficiently permanent or

      stable to permit the mask work to be perceived or reproduced from

      the product for a period of more than transitory duration;

        (4) to ''distribute'' means to sell, or to lease, bail, or

      otherwise transfer, or to offer to sell, lease, bail, or

      otherwise transfer;

        (5) to ''commercially exploit'' a mask work is to distribute to

      the public for commercial purposes a semiconductor chip product

      embodying the mask work; except that such term includes an offer

      to sell or transfer a semiconductor chip product only when the

      offer is in writing and occurs after the mask work is fixed in

      the semiconductor chip product;

        (6) the ''owner'' of a mask work is the person who created the

      mask work, the legal representative of that person if that person

      is deceased or under a legal incapacity, or a party to whom all

      the rights under this chapter of such person or representative

      are transferred in accordance with section 903(b); except that,

      in the case of a work made within the scope of a person's

      employment, the owner is the employer for whom the person created

      the mask work or a party to whom all the rights under this

      chapter of the employer are transferred in accordance with

      section 903(b);

        (7) an ''innocent purchaser'' is a person who purchases a

      semiconductor chip product in good faith and without having

      notice of protection with respect to the semiconductor chip

      product;

        (8) having ''notice of protection'' means having actual

      knowledge that, or reasonable grounds to believe that, a mask

      work is protected under this chapter; and

        (9) an ''infringing semiconductor chip product'' is a

      semiconductor chip product which is made, imported, or

      distributed in violation of the exclusive rights of the owner of

      a mask work under this chapter.

      (b) For purposes of this chapter, the distribution or importation

    of a product incorporating a semiconductor chip product as a part

    thereof is a distribution or importation of that semiconductor chip

    product.

-SOURCE-

    (Added Pub. L. 98-620, title III, Sec. 302, Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat.

    3347.)

-MISC1-

                       SHORT TITLE OF 1991 AMENDMENT

      Pub. L. 102-64, Sec. 1, June 28, 1991, 105 Stat. 320, provided

    that: ''This Act (amending section 914 of this title and enacting

    provisions set out as a note under section 914 of this title) may

    be cited as the 'Semiconductor International Protection Extension

    Act of 1991'.''

                                SHORT TITLE

      Section 301 of title III of Pub. L. 98-620 provided that: ''This

    title (enacting this chapter) may be cited as the 'Semiconductor

    Chip Protection Act of 1984'.''

                      AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

      Section 304 of title III of Pub. L. 98-620 provided that: ''There

    are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to

    carry out the purposes of this title and the amendments made by

    this title (enacting this chapter).''

-SECREF-

                   SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

      This section is referred to in title 11 section 101.

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