3 Nimmer on Copyright § 10.03

Summary

• [A] Grants Executed on or after January 1, 1978

  The Copyright Act defines a “transfer of copyright ownership” to consist of “an assignment, mortgage, exclusive license,1 or any other conveyance, alienation, or hypothecation of a copyright or of any of the exclusive rights comprised in a copyright … but not including a nonexclusive license.”2 The Act permits such transfers to be effectuated, in whole or in part, by means of conveyance or by operation of law.3

  • [1] Requirement of Signed Writing for Transfers
    • [a] In General.

      Any transfer other than one by operation of law4 “is not valid unless an instrument of conveyance, or a note or memorandum of the transfer, is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed or such owner’s duly authorized agent.”5