PART 211—MASK WORK PROTECTION Authority: 17 U.S.C. 702, 908. Source: 50 FR 26719, June 28, 1985, unless otherwise noted. § 211.1 General provisions. (a) Mail and other communications with the Copyright Office concerning the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984, Pub. L. 98-620, chapter 9 of title 17 U.S.C., should be sent to the address specified in § 201.1(b) of this chapter. (b) Section 201.2 of this chapter relating to the information given by the Copyright Office, and parts 203 and 204 of this chapter pertaining to the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act, shall apply, where appropriate, to the administration by the Copyright Office of the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984, Pub. L. 98-620. (c) For purposes of this part, the terms semiconductor chip product, mask work, fixed, commercially exploited, owner, [50 FR 26719, June 28, 1985, as amended at 82 FR 9365, Feb. 6, 2017] § 211.2 Recordation of documents pertaining to mask works. The conditions prescribed in § 201.4 of this chapter for recordation of transfers of copyright ownership and other documents pertaining to copyright are applicable to the recordation of documents pertaining to mask works under section 903 of title 17 U.S.C. [50 FR 26719, June 28, 1985, as amended at 66 FR 34373, June 28, 2001] § 211.3 Mask work fees. (a) Section 201.3 of this chapter prescribes the fees or charges established by the Register of Copyrights for services relating to mask works. (b) Section 201.6 of this chapter on the payment and refund of Copyright Office fees shall apply to mask work fees. [50 FR 26719, June 28, 1985, as amended at 56 FR 59886, Nov. 26, 1991; 59 FR 38372, July 28, 1994; 63 FR 29139, May 28, 1998; 64 FR 29522, June 1, 1999] § 211.4 Registration of claims of protection in mask works. (a) General. (b) Application for registration. (2) An application for registration of a mask work claim may be submitted by the owner of the mask work, or the duly authorized agent of any such owner. (i) The owner of a mask work includes a party that has obtained the transfer of all of the exclusive rights in the work, but does not include the transferee of less than all of the exclusive rights, or the licensee of all or less than all of these rights. (ii) For purposes of eligibility to claim mask work protection pursuant to section 902(a)(1)(A) of 17 U.S.C., the owner of the mask work must be either the initial owner or a person who has obtained by transfer the totality of rights in the mask work under the Act. (3) An application for registration shall be submitted on Form MW prescribed by the Register under paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and shall be accompanied by the registration fee and deposit required under 17 U.S.C. 908 and §§ 211.3 and 211.5 of these regulations. The application shall contain the information required by the form and its accompanying instructions, and shall include a certification. The certification shall consist of: (i) A declaration that the applicant is authorized to submit the application and that the statements made are correct to the best of that person's knowledge; and (ii) The typed, printed, or handwritten signature of the applicant, accompanied by the typed or printed name of that person if the signature is handwritten. (c) One registration per mask work. (2) Notwithstanding the general rule permitting only one registration per work, owners of mask works in final forms of semiconductor chip products that are produced by adding metal-connection layers to unpersonalized gate arrays may separately register the entire unpersonalized gate array and the custom metallization layers. Applicants seeking to register separately entire unpersonalized gate arrays or custom metallization layers should make the nature of their claim clear at Space 8 of application Form MW. For these purposes, an “unpersonalized gate array” is an intermediate form chip product that includes a plurality of circuit elements that are adaptable to be personalized into a plurality of different final form chip products, in which some of the circuit elements are, or will be, connected as gates. (d) Registration for one mask work. (1) In the case of a mask work that has not been commercially exploited: All original mask work elements fixed in a particular form of a semiconductor chip product at the time an application for registration is filed and in which the owner or owners of the mask work is or are the same; and (2) In the case of a mask work that has been commercially exploited: All original mask work elements fixed in a semiconductor chip product at the time that product was first commercially exploited and in which the owner or owners of the mask work is or are the same. (e) Registration in most complete form. (f) Corrections and amplifications of prior registration. [50 FR 26719, June 28, 1985, as amended at 56 FR 7818, Feb. 26, 1991; 64 FR 36575, July 7, 1999; 66 FR 34374, June 28, 2001; 73 FR 37840, July 2, 2008; 82 FR 9365, Feb. 6, 2017; 83 FR 66630, Dec. 27, 2018] § 211.5 Deposit of identifying material. (a) General. (b) Nature of required deposit. (1) In the case of a commercially exploited mask work, four reproductions of the mask work fixed in the form of the semiconductor chip product in which it was first commercially exploited. Defective chips may be deposited under this section provided that the mask work contribution would be revealed in reverse dissection of the chips. The four reproductions shall be accompanied by a visually perceptible representation of each layer of the mask work consisting of: (i) Sets of plastic color overlay sheets; (ii) Drawings or plots in composite form on a single sheet or on separate sheets; or (iii) A photograph of each layer of the work fixed in a semiconductor chip product. (2) The visually perceptible representation of a mask work deposited under this section shall be reproduced on material which can be readily stored in an 8 1/2 (3) In the case of a mask work that has not been commercially exploited, one of the following: (i) Where the mask work contribution in which registration is sought represents twenty percent or more of the area of the intended final form, a visually perceptible representation of the work in accordance with paragraph (b)(1)(i) or (ii) of this section. In addition to the deposit of visually perceptible representations of the work, an applicant may, at his or her option, deposit four reproductions in the most complete form of the mask work as fixed in a semiconductor product. (ii) Where the mask work contribution in which registration is sought represents less than twenty percent of the area of the intended final form, a visually perceptible representation of the work which reveals the totality of the mask work contribution to a person trained in the state of the art. The visually perceptible representations may consist of any combination of plastic color overlay sheets, drawing or plots in composite form, or a photograph or photographs of the entire mask set. If the visually perceptible representation fails to identify all of the elements of the mask work contribution, they may be accompanied by additional explanatory material. The visually perceptible representation of a mask work deposited under this section shall be reproduced on material which can be readily stored in an 8 1/2 (c) Trade secret protection. (1) Mask works commercially exploited. (i) A printout of the mask work design data pertaining to each withheld layer, reproduced in microform; or (ii) Visually perceptible representations in accordance with paragraphs (b)(1)(i), (ii), or (iii) and (b)(2) of this section with those portions containing sensitive information maintained under a claim of trade secrecy blocked out, provided that the portions remaining are greater than those which are blocked out. (2) Mask work not commercially exploited. (A) A printout of the mask work design data pertaining to each withheld layer, reproduced in microform, in which sensitive information maintained under a claim of trade secrecy has been blocked out or stripped; or (B) Visually perceptible representations in accordance with paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section with those portions containing sensitive information maintained under a claim of trade secrecy blocked out, provided that the portions remaining are greater than those which are blocked out. (ii) The identifying portions shall be accompanied by a single photograph of the top or other visible layers of the mask work fixed in a semiconductor chip product in which the sensitive information maintained under a claim of trade secrecy has been blocked out, provided that the blocked out portions do not exceed the remaining portions. (d) Special relief. (e) Retention and disposition of deposits. (2) Where a claim of protection in a mask work is registered in the Copyright Office, the identifying material deposited in connection with the claim shall be retained under the control of the Copyright Office, including retention in Government storage facilities, during the period of protection. After that period, it is within the joint discretion of the Register of Copyrights and the Librarian of Congress to order its destruction or other disposition. [50 FR 26719, June 28, 1985, as amended at 60 FR 34169, June 30, 1995; 73 FR 37840, July 2, 2008; 76 FR 27898, May 13, 2011; 82 FR 9365, Feb. 6, 2017] § 211.6 Methods of affixation and placement of mask work notice. (a) General. (2) The acceptability of a mask work notice under these regulations shall depend upon its being legible under normal conditions of use, and affixed in such manner and position that, when affixed, it may be viewed upon reasonable examination. (b) Elements of mask work notice. (1) The words mask work (2) The name of the owner or owners of the mask work or an abbreviation by which the name is recognized or is generally known. (c) Methods of affixation and placement of the notice. (1) A gummed or other label securely affixed or imprinted upon the package or other container used as a permanent receptacle for the product; or (2) A notice imprinted or otherwise affixed in or on the top or other visible layer of the product. [50 FR 26719, June 28, 1985, as amended at 60 FR 34169, June 30, 1995] § 211.7 Reconsideration procedure for refusals to register. The requirements prescribed in § 202.5 of this chapter for reconsideration of refusals to register copyright claims are applicable to requests to reconsider refusals to register mask works under 17 U.S.C. chapter 9, unless otherwise required by this part. [69 FR 77637, Dec. 28, 2004]