Nope. 301(a) is talking about things like common law copyright. The notes to that section from the Cornell LII [0]: > Nothing in the bill derogates from the ri

Nope. 301(a) is talking about things like common law copyright. The notes to that section from the Cornell LII [0]: > Nothing in the bill derogates from the rights of parties to contract with each other and to sue for breaches of contract; however, to the extent that the unfair competition concept known as “interference with contract relations” is merely the equivalent of copyright protection, it would be preempted. If you think about it, if what you said were true, then you couldn’t make any contracts regarding copyright works and expect them to ever be enforced. Disney wouldn’t work as a concept. Sounds a bit extreme, is a bit extreme. [0]: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/301 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/301