Examining 'Harmless Errors' Provision For Copyright Termination Notices

“Harmless errors” in copyright termination notices “that do not materially affect the adequacy of the information required to serve the purposes of” 17 U.S.C. ”304(d) and 203, which provide timetables for the recapture of assigned copyrights, “shall not render the notice invalid.” See, 37 C.F.R. '201.10(e)(1). Section 201.10(e)(2) lists “safety value” examples of information that can constitute “harmless errors” in a termination notice, such as “in giving the date or registration number” so long the errors were “made in good faith and without any intention to deceive, mislead, or conceal relevant information.”

The copyright termination notice that the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel sent in Siegel v. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., CV-04-8400-SGL, included a statement that, along with specifically identified works, termination applied to “each and every work (in any medium whatsoever, whenever created) that includes or embodies any character, story element, or indicia reasonably associated with SUPERMAN or the SUPERMAN stories.” (Works for hire aren't affected by the Copyright Act's termination provisions; work for hire was a consideration in Siegel as well as, for example, in a recent lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York involving the validity of termination notices for Marvel comics characters purportedly created by the late artist Jack Kirby. See, Marvel Worldwide Inc. v. Kirby, 2010-cv-141.)