- § 4301. Designation of chapter
- § 4302. Definitions
- § 4303. Acts prohibited
- § 4304. Licenses to enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance companies; change of name; doing business in United States
- § 4305. Suspension of provisions relating to ally of enemy; regulation of transactions in foreign exchange of gold or silver, property transfers, vested interests, enforcement and penalties
- § 4306. Alien Property Custodian; general powers and duties
- § 4307. Lists of enemy or ally of enemy officers, directors or stockholders of corporations in United States; acts constituting trade with enemy prior to
- § 4308. Contracts, mortgages, or pledges against or with enemy or ally of enemy; abrogation of contracts; suspension of limitations
- § 4309. Claims to property transferred to custodian; notice of claim; filing; return of property; suits to recover; sale of claimed property in time of war or during national emergency
- § 4310. Acts permitted; applications for patents, or registration of trade-marks or copyrights; payment of tax in relation thereto; licenses under enemy owned patent or copyright; statements by licensees; term and cancellation; suits against licensees; restraining infringements; powers of attorney; keeping secret inventions
- § 4311. Importations prohibited
- § 4312. Property transferred to Alien Property Custodian
- § 4313. Statements by masters of vessels and owners of cargoes before granting clearances
- § 4314. False manifest; refusal of clearance; reports of gold or silver coin in cargoes for export
- § 4315. Offenses; punishment; forfeitures of property
- § 4316. Rules by district courts; appeals
- § 4317. Fees of agents, attorneys, or representatives
- § 4318. Claims of naturalized citizens as affected by expatriation
- § 4319. Fugitives from justice barred from recovery
- § 4320. Payment of income, etc., by Alien Property Custodian
- § 4321. Payment of taxes and expenses by Alien Property Custodian
- § 4322. Investments by Custodian in participating certificates issued by Secretary of the Treasury; transfers to and payments from German, Austrian or Hungarian special deposit accounts; allocation of payments
- § 4323. Allocation of “unallocated interest fund”
- § 4324. Return by Custodian, to United States, of payments under licenses, assignments or sales of patents
- § 4325. “Unallocated interest fund” defined
- § 4326. Waiver by Custodian of demand for property; acceptance of less amount; approval of Attorney General
- § 4327. Attachment or garnishment of funds or property held by Custodian
- § 4328. “Member of the former ruling family” defined
- § 4329. Return of property
- § 4330. Notice of claim; institution of suits; computation of time
- § 4331. Payment of debts
- § 4332. Hearings on claims; rules and regulations; delegation of powers
- § 4333. Taxes
- § 4334. Insurance of property
- § 4335. Shipment of relief supplies; definitions
- § 4336. Retention of properties or interests of Germany and Japan and their nationals; proceeds covered into Treasury; ex gratia payment to Switzerland
- § 4337. Intercustodial conflicts involving enemy property; authority of President to conclude; delegation of authority
- § 4338. Divestment of estates, trusts, insurance policies, annuities, remainders, pensions, workmen’s compensation and veterans’ benefits; exceptions; notice of divestment
- § 4339. Claims for proceeds from sale of certain certificates: jurisdiction, limitations; divestment of copyrights: “copyrights” defined, rights of licensees and assignees, reproduction rights of United States, transfer of interests, payment of royalties to Attorney General, suits for infringement
- § 4340. Divestment of trademarks
- § 4341. Motion picture prints, transfer of title
This chapter shall be known as the “Trading with the enemy 1
For a period of thirty days after October 6, 1917, and further pending the entry of such order by the President, after application made by any enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company, within such thirty days as above provided, the provisions of the President’s proclamation of April sixth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, relative to agencies in the United States of certain insurance companies, as modified by the provisions of the President’s proclamation of July thirteenth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, relative to marine and war-risk insurance, shall remain in full force and effect so far as it applies to such German insurance companies, and the conditions of said proclamation of April sixth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, as modified by said proclamation of July thirteenth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, shall also during said period of thirty days after October 6, 1917, and pending the order of the President as herein provided, apply to any enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company, anything in this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding. It shall be unlawful for any enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company, to whom license is granted, to transmit out of the United States any funds belonging to or held for the benefit of such company or to use any such funds as the basis for the establishment directly or indirectly of any credit within or outside of the United States to, or for the benefit of, or on behalf of, or on account of, an enemy or ally of enemy.
For a period of thirty days after October 6, 1917, and further pending the entry of such order by the President, after application made within such thirty days by any enemy or ally of enemy, other than an insurance or reinsurance company as above provided, it shall be lawful for such enemy or ally of enemy to continue to do business in this country and for any person to trade with, to, from, for, on account of, on behalf of or for the benefit of such enemy or ally of enemy, anything in this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, however, That the provisions of sections 4303 and 4315 of this title shall apply to any act or attempted act of transmission or transfer of money or other property out of the United States and to the use or attempted use of such money or property as the basis for the establishment of any credit within or outside of the United States to, or for the benefit of, or on behalf of, or on account of, an enemy or ally of enemy.
If no license is applied for within thirty days after October 6, 1917, or if a license shall be refused to any enemy or ally of enemy, whether insurance or reinsurance company, or other person, making application, or if any license granted shall be revoked by the President, the provisions of sections 4303 and 4315 of this title shall forthwith apply to all trade or to any attempt to trade with, to, from, for, buy, on account of, or on behalf of, or for the benefit of such company or other person: Provided, however, That after such refusal or revocation, anything in this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, it shall be lawful for a policyholder or for an insurance company, not an enemy or ally of enemy, holding insurance or having effected reinsurance in or with such enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company, to receive payment of, and for such enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company to pay any premium, return premium, claim, money, security, or other property due or which may become due on or in respect to such insurance or reinsurance in force at the date of such refusal or revocation of license; and nothing in this chapter shall vitiate or nullify then existing policies or contracts of insurance or reinsurance, or the conditions thereof; and any such policyholder or insurance company, not an enemy or ally of enemy, having any claim to or upon money or other property of the enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company in the custody or control of the alien property custodian, hereinafter provided for, or of the Treasurer of the United States, may make application for the payment thereof and may institute suit as provided in section 4309 of this title.
Whenever, during the present war, in the opinion of the President the public safety or public interest requires, the President may prohibit any or all foreign insurance companies from doing business in the United States, or the President may license such company or companies to do business upon such terms as he may deem proper.
If the President shall have reasonable cause to believe that any act is about to be performed in violation of section 4303 of this title he shall have authority to order the postponement of the performance of such act for a period not exceeding ninety days, pending investigation of the facts by him.
The President is authorized to appoint, prescribe the duties of, and fix the salary of an official to be known as the alien property custodian, who shall be empowered to receive all money and property in the United States due or belonging to an enemy, or ally of enemy, which may be paid, conveyed, transferred, assigned, or delivered to said custodian under the provisions of this chapter; and to hold, administer, and account for the same under the general direction of the President and as provided in this chapter. The President may further employ in the District of Columbia and elsewhere and fix the compensation of such clerks, attorneys, investigators, accountants, and other employees as he may find necessary for the due administration of the provisions of this chapter; Provided, That such clerks, investigators, accountants, and other employees shall be appointed from lists of eligibles to be supplied by the Civil Service Commission 1
Then the President, without any application being made therefor, may order the payment, conveyance, transfer, assignment, or delivery of such money or other property held by the Alien Property Custodian or by the Treasurer of the United States, or of the interest therein to which the President shall determine such person entitled, either to the said owner or to the person by whom said property was conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid over to the Alien Property Custodian: Provided, That no person shall be deemed or held to be a citizen or subject of Germany or Austria or Hungary or Austria-Hungary for the purposes of this section, even though he was such citizen or subject at the time first specified in this subsection, if he has become or shall become, ipso facto or through exercise of option, a citizen or subject of any nation or State or free city other than Germany, Austria, or Hungary, (first) under the terms of such treaties of peace as have been or may be concluded subsequent to November 11, 1918, between Germany or Austria or Hungary (of the one part) and the United States and/or three or more of the following-named powers: The British Empire, France, Italy, and Japan (of the other part), or (second) under the terms of such treaties as have been or may be concluded in pursuance of the treaties of peace aforesaid between any nation, State, or free city (of the one part) whose territories, in whole or in part, on August 4, 1914, formed a portion of the territory of Germany or Austria-Hungary and the United States and/or three or more of the following-named powers: The British Empire, France, Italy, and Japan (of the other part). For the purposes of this section any citizen or subject of a State or free city which at the time of the proposed return of money or other property of such citizen or subject hereunder forms a part of the territory of any one of the following nations: Germany, Austria, or Hungary, shall be deemed to be a citizen or subject of such nation. And the receipt of the said owner or of the person by whom said money or other property was conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid over to the Alien Property Custodian shall be a full acquittance and discharge of the Alien Property Custodian or the Treasurer of the United States, as the case may be, and of the United States in respect to all claims of all persons heretofore or hereafter claiming any right, title, or interest in said money or other property, or compensation or damages arising from the capture of such money or other property by the President or the Alien Property Custodian: Provided further, however, That except as herein provided no such action by the President shall bar any person from the prosecution of any suit at law or in equity to establish any right, title, or interest which he may have therein.
If suit is brought as above provided, the court may, at any time, terminate the license, and may, in such event, issue an injunction to restrain the licensee from infringement thereafter, or the court, in case the licensee, prior to suit, shall have made investment of capital based on possession of the license, may continue the license for such period and upon such terms and with such royalties as it shall find to be just and reasonable.
In the case of any such patent, trade-mark, print, label, or copyright, conveyed, assigned, transferred, or delivered to the Alien Property Custodian or seized by him, any suit brought under this subsection, within the time limited therein, shall be considered as having been brought by the owner within the meaning of this subsection, in so far as such suit relates to royalties for the period prior to the sale by the Alien Property Custodian of such patent, trade-mark, print, label, or copyright, if brought either by the Alien Property Custodian or by the person who was the owner thereof immediately prior to the date such patent, trade-mark, print, label, or copyright was seized or otherwise acquired by the Alien Property Custodian.
When an applicant whose patent is withheld as herein provided and who faithfully obeys the order of the President above referred to shall tender his invention to the Government of the United States for its use, he shall, if he ultimately receives a patent, have the right to sue for compensation in the United States Court of Federal Claims, such right to compensation to begin from the date of the use of the invention by the Government.
Whenever during the present war the President shall find that the public safety so requires and shall make proclamation thereof it shall be unlawful to import into the United States from any country named in such proclamation any article or articles mentioned in such proclamation except at such time or times, and under such regulations or orders, and subject to such limitations and exceptions as the President shall prescribe, until otherwise ordered by the President or by Congress: Provided, however, That no preference shall be given to the ports of one State over those of another.
All moneys (including checks and drafts payable on demand) paid to or received by the alien property custodian pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited forthwith in the Treasury of the United States, and may be invested and reinvested by the Secretary of the Treasury in United States bonds or United States certificates of indebtedness, under such rules and regulations as the President shall prescribe for such deposit, investment, and sale of securities; and as soon after the end of the war as the President shall deem practicable, such securities shall be sold and the proceeds deposited in the Treasury.
All other property of an enemy, or ally of enemy, conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid to the alien property custodian hereunder shall be safely held and administered by him except as hereinafter provided; and the President is authorized to designate as a depositary, or depositaries, of property of an enemy or ally of enemy, any bank, or banks, or trust company, or trust companies, or other suitable depositary or depositaries, located and doing business in the United States. The alien property custodian may deposit with such designated depositary or depositaries, or with the Secretary of the Treasury, any stocks, bonds, notes, time drafts, time bills of exchange, or other securities, or property (except money or checks or drafts payable on demand which are required to be deposited with the Secretary of the Treasury) and such depositary or depositaries shall be authorized and empowered to collect any dividends or interest or income that may become due and any maturing obligations held for the account of such custodian. Any moneys collected on said account shall be paid and deposited forthwith by said depositary or by the alien property custodian into the Treasury of the United States as hereinbefore provided.
The President shall require all such designated depositaries to execute and file bonds sufficient in his judgment to protect property on deposit, such bonds to be conditioned as he may direct.
The alien property custodian shall be vested with all of the powers of a common-law trustee in respect of all property, other than money, which has been or shall be, or which has been or shall be required to be, conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid over to him in pursuance of the provisions of this chapter, and, in addition thereto, acting under the supervision and direction of the President, and under such rules and regulations as the President shall prescribe, shall have power to manage such property and do any act or things in respect thereof or make any disposition thereof or of any part thereof, by sale or otherwise, and exercise any rights or powers which may be or become appurtenant thereto or to the ownership thereof in like manner as though he were the absolute owner thereof: Provided, That any property sold under this chapter except when sold to the United States, shall be sold only to American citizens, at public sale to the highest bidder, after public advertisement of time and place of sale which shall be where the property or a major portion thereof is situated, unless the President stating the reasons therefor, in the public interest shall otherwise determine: Provided further, That when sold at public sale, the alien property custodian upon the order of the President stating the reasons therefor, shall have the right to reject all bids and resell such property at public sale or otherwise as the President may direct. Any person purchasing property from the alien property custodian for an undisclosed principal, or for re-sale to a person not a citizen of the United States, or for the benefit of a person not a citizen of the United States, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be subject to a fine of not more than $10,000, or imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both, and the property shall be forfeited to the United States. It shall be the duty of every corporation incorporated within the United States and every unincorporated association, or company, or trustee, or trustees within the United States issuing shares or certificates representing beneficial interests to transfer such shares or certificates upon its, his, or their books into the name of the alien property custodian upon demand, accompanied by the presentation of the certificates which represent such shares or beneficial interests. The alien property custodian shall forthwith deposit in the Treasury of the United States, as hereinbefore provided, the proceeds of any such property or rights so sold by him.
Any money or property required or authorized by the provisions of this chapter to be paid, conveyed, transferred, assigned, or delivered to the alien property custodian shall, if said custodian shall so direct by written order, be paid, conveyed, transferred, assigned, or delivered to the Treasurer of the United States with the same effect as if to the alien property custodian.
After the end of the war any claim of any enemy or of an ally of enemy to any money or other property received and held by the alien property custodian or deposited in the United States Treasury, shall be settled as Congress shall direct: Provided, however, That on order of the President as set forth in section 4309 of this title, or of the court, as set forth in sections 4309 and 4310 of this title, the alien property custodian or the Treasurer of the United States, as the case may be, shall forthwith convey, transfer, assign, and pay to the person to whom the President shall so order, or in whose behalf the court shall enter final judgment or decree, any property of an enemy or ally of enemy held by said custodian or by said Treasurer, so far as may be necessary to comply with said order of the President or said final judgment or decree of the court: And provided further, That the Treasurer of the United States, on order of the alien property custodian shall, as provided in section 4310 of this title, repay to the licensee any funds deposited by said licensee.
During the present war, in addition to the facts required by section 60105 of title 46, and sections forty-one hundred and ninety-eight,1
During the present war, whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that the manifest or the additional statements under oath required by section 4313 of this title are false or that any vessel, domestic or foreign, is about to carry out of the United States any property to or for the account or benefit of an enemy, or ally of enemy, or any property or person whose export, taking out, or transport will be in violation of law, the collector of customs for the district in which such vessel is located is authorized and empowered subject to review by the President to refuse clearance to any such vessel, domestic or foreign, for which clearance is required by law, and by formal notice served upon the owners, master, or person or persons in command or charge of any domestic vessel for which clearance is not required by law, to forbid the departure of such vessel from the port, and it shall thereupon be unlawful for such vessel to depart.
The collector of customs shall, during the present war, in each case report to the President the amount of gold or silver coin or bullion or other moneys of the United States contained in any cargo intended for export. Such report shall include the names and addresses of the consignors and consignees, together with any facts known to the collector with reference to such shipment and particularly those which may indicate that such gold or silver coin or bullion or moneys of the United States may be intended for delivery or may be delivered, directly or indirectly, to an enemy or an ally of enemy.
The district courts of the United States are given jurisdiction to make and enter all such rules as to notice and otherwise, and all such orders and decrees, and to issue such process as may be necessary and proper in the premises to enforce the provisions of this chapter, with a right of appeal from the final order or decree of such court as provided in sections one hundred and twenty-eight and two hundred and thirty-eight of the Act of March third, nineteen hundred and eleven, entitled “An Act to codify, revise, and amend the laws relating to the judiciary.”
No property or interest or proceeds shall be returned under this chapter, nor shall any payment be made or judgment awarded in respect of any property or interest vested in or transferred to any officer or agency of the United States under this chapter unless satisfactory evidence is furnished to the President or such officer or agency as he may designate, or the court, as the case may be, that the aggregate of the fees to be paid to all agents, attorneys at law or in fact, or representatives, for services rendered in connection with such return or payment or judgment does not exceed 10 per centum of the value of such property or interest or proceeds or of such payment. Any agent, attorney at law or in fact, or representative, believing that the aggregate of the fees should be in excess of such 10 per centum may in the case of any return of, or the making of any payment in respect of, such property or interest or proceeds by the President or such officer or agency as he may designate, petition the district court of the United States for the district in which he resides for an order authorizing fees in excess of 10 per centum and shall name such officer or agency as respondent. The court hearing such petition, or a court awarding any judgment in respect of any such property or interest or proceeds, as the case may be, shall approve an aggregate of fees in excess of 10 per centum of the value of such property or interest or proceeds only upon a finding that there exist special circumstances of unusual hardship which require the payment of such excess. Any person accepting any fee in excess of an amount approved hereunder, or retaining for more than thirty days any portion of a fee, accepted prior to approval hereunder, in excess of the fee as approved, shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter.
The claim of any naturalized American citizen under the provisions of this chapter shall not be denied on the ground of any presumption of expatriation which has arisen against him, under the second sentence of section 2 of the Act entitled “An Act in reference to the expatriation of citizens and their protection abroad,” approved March 2, 1907, if he shall give satisfactory evidence to the President, or the court, as the case may be, of his uninterrupted loyalty to the United States during his absence, and that he has returned to the United States, or that he, although desiring to return, has been prevented from so returning by circumstances beyond his control.
No person shall be entitled to the return of any property or money under any provision of this chapter, or any amendment of this chapter, who is a fugitive from justice of the United States or any State or Territory thereof, or the District of Columbia.
The Alien Property Custodian is directed to pay to the person entitled thereto, from and after March 4, 1923, the net income (including dividends, interest, annuities, and other earnings), accruing and collected thereafter, in respect of any money or property held in trust for such person by the Alien Property Custodian or by the Treasurer of the United States for the account of the Alien Property Custodian, under such rules and regulations as the President may prescribe.
The Alien Property Custodian is authorized and directed to return to the United States any consideration paid to him by the United States under any license, assignment, or sale by the Alien Property Custodian to the United States of any patent (or any right therein or claim thereto, and including an application therefor and any patent issued pursuant to any such application).
As used in this chapter, the term “unallocated interest fund” means the sum of (1) the earnings and profits accumulated prior to March 4, 1923, and attributable to investments and reinvestments under section 4312 of this title by the Secretary of the Treasury, plus (2) the earnings and profits accumulated on or after March 4, 1923, in respect of the earnings and profits referred to in clause (1) of this section.
Any money or other property returnable under subsection (b) or (n) of section 4309 of this title shall, at any time prior to such return, be subject to attachment in accordance with the provisions of the code of law for the District of Columbia, as amended, relating to attachments in suits at law and to attachments for the enforcement of judgments at law and decrees in equity, but any writ of attachment or garnishment issuing in any such suit, or for the enforcement of any judgment or decree, shall be served only upon the Alien Property Custodian, who shall for the purposes of this section be considered as holding credits in favor of the person entitled to such return to the extent of the value of the money or other property so returnable. Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing the taking of actual possession, by any officer of any court, of any money or other property held by the Alien Property Custodian or by the Treasurer of the United States.
As used in this chapter, the term “member of the former ruling family” means (1) any person who was at any time between April 6, 1917, and July 2, 1921, the German Emperor or the ruler of any constituent kingdom of the German Empire, or (2) the wife or any child of such person.
No return may be made pursuant to section 4309 or 4329 of this title unless notice of claim has been filed: (a) in the case of any property or interest acquired by the United States prior to December 18, 1941, by August 9, 1948; or (b) in the case of any property or interest acquired by the United States on or after December 18, 1941, not later than one year from February 9, 1954, or two years from the vesting of the property or interest in respect of which the claim is made, whichever is later. No suit pursuant to section 4309 of this title may be instituted after April 30, 1949, or after the expiration of two years from the date of the seizure by or vesting in the Alien Property Custodian, as the case may be, of the property or interest in respect of which relief is sought, whichever is later, but in computing such two years there shall be excluded any period during which there was pending a suit or claim for return pursuant to section 4309 or 4329(a) of this title.
The officer or agency empowered to entertain claims under sections 4309(a), 4329, and 4331 of this title shall have power to hold such hearings as may be deemed necessary; to prescribe rules and regulations governing the form and contents of claims, the proof thereof, and all other matters related to proceedings on such claims; and in connection with such proceedings to issue subpenas, administer oaths, and examine witnesses. Such powers, and any other powers conferred upon such officer or agency by sections 4309(a), 4329, and 4331 of this title may be exercised through subordinate officers designated by such officer or agency.
The Alien Property Custodian may procure insurance in such amounts, and from such insurers, as he believes will adequately protect him against loss in connection with property or interest or proceeds held by him.