Can you get your rights back 35 years after you signed them away?

Our page on IP licensing and assignments describes reversion clauses, the contractual way to get rights back. This page covers the statutory way, which works even when the contract has no reversion clause at all. Congress built it into 17 U.S.C. 203 for grants made since 1978, and into section 304 for older ones. The Copyright Office describes the purpose plainly: to protect authors and their heirs against unremunerative agreements by letting them, long after the original grant, share in a work's later success.

How termination works, step by step

1. Confirm the grant qualifies. Section 203 covers an exclusive or nonexclusive transfer or license of copyright, executed by the author on or after January 1, 1978, otherwise than by will, for any work other than a work made for hire.
2. Find the five-year window. It begins at the end of 35 years from the date the grant was signed. If the grant covers the right of publication, it begins at the end of 35 years from publication under the grant or 40 years from signing, whichever ends earlier (203(a)(3)).
3. Choose an effective date inside the window. The notice must state it (203(a)(4)(A)).
4. Serve the notice 2 to 10 years before that date. It goes to the grantee or the grantee's successor in title, after a reasonable investigation of who currently owns the rights (37 CFR 201.10(d)).
5. Record a copy before the effective date. Recording is a condition of the termination taking effect (203(a)(4)(A)).
6. Rights revert on the effective date. The future rights vest when the notice is served, and the U.S. rights covered by the grant come back on the effective date (203(b)).

Which termination provision applies to your grant?

The Copyright Office's notices of termination page sorts grants into three provisions. Section 203 applies to grants executed by the author on or after January 1, 1978, whether the copyright was secured before or after that date. Section 304(c) applies to grants executed before 1978 by the author or certain heirs, for works whose copyright was secured before 1978; its window opens 56 years after copyright was originally secured (17 U.S.C. 304(c)(3)). Section 304(d) was a second chance for older works and is closed: the last day to serve a notice under it was October 26, 2017, and the Office no longer records such notices.

One special case matters to songwriters with long careers. If an author signed a grant before 1978 for a work created in 1978 or later, the Office calls it a "gap grant" and will record a section 203 notice that states the creation date as the date of execution.

Who can terminate, and who must sign?

A living author who made the grant terminates it. If two or more authors of a joint work signed the grant, a majority of those authors can terminate it (203(a)(1)). After an author's death, the termination interest passes by statute, not by the author's will: the widow or widower owns it all unless there are surviving children or grandchildren, in which case the spouse owns half and the children, and the children of any dead child, share the other half, exercised per stirpes. If none of them is living, the author's executor, administrator, personal representative or trustee owns it (203(a)(2)). A deceased author's interest is exercised by those owning more than half of it.

The notice must be signed by the required number and proportion of owners or their authorized agents (203(a)(4)). Under the Copyright Office's rules, a section 203 notice must state that it is made under section 203, name each grantee or successor and each address where it is served, give the date the grant was executed and, for publication grants, the publication date, identify each work by title and author (with registration numbers where practicable), describe the grant, and give the effective date (37 CFR 201.10(b)(2)). Everything must be in the notice itself; incorporating other documents by reference does not count.

How is a notice served and recorded, and what does it cost?

Service can be personal, by first class mail or a reputable courier to the last known address found after a reasonable investigation, or by email in three narrow situations: an address the grantee lists on its website for service of termination notices or legal process, an address the grantee provides with written consent given within 30 days before service, or an address in a public directory the Office may maintain (37 CFR 201.10(d)).

The copy sent for recording must be a true, complete and legible copy of the notice as served, with a statement of the date and manner of service and the Office's cover sheet, Form TCS (201.10(f)). Notices of termination are submitted on paper, unless the remitter is in the Office's electronic pilot program, and the paper base fee is $125 for one work, plus $60 for each group of up to 10 additional works and titles (37 CFR 201.3(c); Copyright Office fees). The Office may refuse to record a notice it judges untimely, for example one served less than two or more than ten years ahead, or received on or after the effective date, and will instead offer to record it as an ordinary document that is not indexed as a termination. Paper filings also wait in a queue: on October 4, 2026, the Office's recordation page listed paper notices of termination from May 2025 as the ones currently being processed.

Recording does not mean the notice is valid. The Office states that recording is not a determination of validity and is without prejudice to any party arguing in court that service or recording requirements were not met (201.10(f)(4)). Harmless errors do not void a notice, and good-faith mistakes in dates, registration numbers and family details are excused (201.10(e)).

What comes back, and what does not?

• U.S. rights only. Termination affects only rights arising under the U.S. Copyright Act and "in no way affects rights arising under any other Federal, State, or foreign laws" (203(b)(5)). A grant's foreign rights stay with the grantee unless the contract says otherwise.
• Existing derivative works keep running. A derivative work prepared under the grant before termination may continue to be used under the grant's terms, but no new derivative works may be prepared under it (203(b)(1)). A film adaptation already made, or a recording already released, can keep being exploited.
• The grant runs until terminated. If the notice is never served, the grant continues for the full copyright term unless it says otherwise (203(b)(6)). Our page on how long a song's copyright lasts shows how long that can be.

What changes the answer

• Work made for hire status. Termination does not apply to works made for hire (Circular 30). That is why commissioning parties care whether a contract creates a work made for hire or an assignment; our page on work made for hire versus assignment explains the difference. Sound recordings are not one of the nine commissioned categories in section 101, so a "work made for hire" label in an artist contract does not settle the question by itself.
• Who signed the grant. Section 203 reaches grants executed by the author. A grant later made by a publisher or label that bought the rights is not the author's grant.
• "Notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary." Termination works despite any contract term, including a promise to make a will or a future grant (203(a)(5)). A clause waiving termination does not stop it.
• Re-granting the rights. A new grant of terminated rights is valid only if made after the effective date, with one exception: the terminating parties may agree with the original grantee, or its successor, once the notice has been served (203(b)(4)). That exception is often where renegotiation happens.
• Publication grants. Book and music publishing deals usually cover the right of publication, which moves the window to the earlier of 35 years from publication or 40 years from signing. Our page on literary and author publishing deals covers contractual reversion, which can come sooner. Authors with out-of-print books should also read when an author can get book rights back from a publisher, which starts with the reversion clause in the contract.

A worked example

Common mistakes

• Waiting for the window to open. The notice must be served at least two years before the effective date. Authors who first think about termination when the 35 years end have already lost the earliest dates.
• Using the wrong date. Publication grants use the earlier of the publication and execution tests. Getting this wrong can put the effective date outside the window.
• Serving the wrong party. Catalogs change hands. Serve the current owner after a real investigation, and record the copy that was actually served.
• Recording too late. A copy received on or after the effective date will not be recorded as a termination.
• Assuming worldwide reversion. Only U.S. rights come back.
• Selling first, checking later. Termination can reshape a sale, which is why our page on selling a music catalog looks at these dates before any price.

What to do this week

1. Gather every grant you or a family member signed: publishing, recording, book, film option and assignment agreements.
2. For each, note the execution date, the publication date and whether the grant covers publication.
3. Work out the window and the serve-by dates using the Office's tables on its termination page.
4. Check the Copyright Office public records for later transfers so you know who to serve; our page on recording copyright transfers explains how to read those records.
5. Confirm registration numbers for each work where possible; our page on registering a song explains the two copyrights in music.
6. For heirs, list the surviving spouse, children and grandchildren, because the statute decides who must sign.

Frequently asked questions

Can a contract waive termination rights?

No. Section 203(a)(5) says termination may be effected notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary. A clause that tries to give up the right does not prevent a valid notice.

Does termination cover recording contracts?

Section 203 covers grants of copyright by authors, which can include an artist's grant of rights in a sound recording, unless the recording is a work made for hire. Whether it is turns on the facts, because sound recordings are not among the nine commissioned categories in section 101.

What happens if the author has died?

The termination interest passes to the surviving spouse, children and grandchildren in the shares section 203(a)(2) sets, and is exercised by those owning more than half of it. If none is living, the executor or other personal representative owns it.

Does termination cancel licenses the publisher already granted?

It ends the terminated grant, but derivative works made under it before termination, such as recordings or adaptations, may continue to be used under the grant's terms (203(b)(1)). New derivative works need the author's permission.

Can I sell the reverting rights to a new company now?

Only the original grantee or its successor can make a binding deal before the effective date, and only after the notice is served. Anyone else must wait until the rights revert (203(b)(4)).

Do I have to sign the new deal in writing?

Yes for any assignment or exclusive license, under the general rule in section 204(a), covered on our page on whether a license or assignment must be in writing.

Zala IP Law advises songwriters, artists, authors and their families on copyright ownership and licensing, and Shreepal J. Zala practices federal intellectual property law nationally. If an older deal may be terminable, request a consultation or call 404-313-1701 well before the window opens.