CHAPTER 600
_______________________
REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
OUTLINE OF, TOPICS
601 Applicability of this chapter.
602 Registration: in general.
602.01 Registration: when necessary to preserve
copyright.
602.02 Registration: when registration may be made.
602.03 Registration distinguished from recordation.
603 Elements required for basic registration.
604 Application forms.
604.01 Application forms: continuation sheets.
605 Examination process.
605.01 Examination process: communications about
registration requirements.
605.02 Examination process: variances.
605.03 Examination process: annotations.
605.04 The examination process: response from
applicant.
605.05 Examination process: "rule of doubt."
605.06 Examination process: cautionary or warning
letters.
605.07 Examination process: not diminished by
special handling.
606 Refusal to register.
606.01 Refusal to register: unregistrable material.
606.02 Refusal to register: failure to meet other
legal requirements of copyright.
606.03 Refusal to register: applicant unauthorized.
606.04 Refusal to register: request for reexamina-
tion.
[February 1988] -1 -
Chapter 600
REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
Outline of Topics - 2 -
607 Registration as a single unit.
607.01 Registration as a single unit: published
works.
607.02 Registration as a single unit: unpublished collections.
608 Works containing elements that are separately owned.
609 One basic registration per work.
609.01 One registration per work: exceptions.
609.02 Separate applications for separately identifiable parts.
610 Registering different versions of a work.
610.01 Registering different copyrightable versions
of a work: unpublished works.
610.02 Registering different copyrightable versions of a work: published works.
610.03 Registering different versions of an unpublished work: versions containing uncopyrightable differences.
610.04 Registering different versions of a published work: versions containing uncopyrightable differences.
610.05 Registering different versions of an unpublished work: overlapping or duplicate claims in different versions, one version more complete.
610.06 Registering different versions of a published work: one version more complete.
610.07 Registering different versions of a work published at the same time: overlapping versions.
[Number 611 is reserved.]
[February 1988]
Chapter 600
REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
Outline of Topics -3 –
612 Examining practices in regard to spaces on appli-
cation form.
612.01 General policy: location of information.
612.02 General policy: minimum standards.
612.03 General policy: correspondence to cover all
informalities.
613 Title of the work.
613.01 Title of the work: omitted.
613.02 Title of the work: nondescriptive titles.
613.03 Title of the work: foreign-language titles.
613.04 Title of the work: variances.
613.05 Title of the work: unpublished collections.
613.06 Title of the work: contributions to published
collections.
613.07 Title of the work: previous or alternative
titles.
614 Nature-of-work space.
614.01 Nature-of-work space: both nature-of-work and
Nature-of-authorship statements omitted.
614.02 Nature-of-work space: elements not contained
in deposit.
614.03 Nature-of-work space: reference to uncopy-
rightable elements.
615 Name of author.
615.01 Name of author: anonymous and pseudonymous
works.
615.02 Name of author: performing group designated
by a single fictitious name.
615.03 Name of author: identity of the author.
615.04 Name of author: works made for hire.
615.05 Name of author: separate or independent
works.
615.06 Name of author: collective work authorship.
615.07 Name of author: form of name.
615.08 Name of author: when authorship is deter-
mined.
[February 1988]
Chapter 600
REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
Outline of Topics - 4 -
616 Dates of birth and death.
616.01 Date of birth.
616.02 Date of death.
617 Government works.
617.01 United States Government works.
617.02 Government works: edicts of government.
617.03 Government works: copyrightable government works.
617.04 Government works: copyrightable elements combined with uncopyrightable government works.
618 Author's nationality or domicile.
618.01 Author's nationality or domicile: corpora-
tions.
618.02 Author's nationality or domicile: works published under 1909 Copyright Act.
619 Nature-of-authorship statement
619.01 Nature-of-authorship statement: location on
application.
619.02 Nature of authorship: appropriate descrip
tion.
619.03 Nature of authorship: nonspecific descrip
tion.
619.04 Nature-of-authorship statement: omitted.
619.05 Nature of authorship: percentage.
619.06 Nature of authorship: claim in unregistrable
material.
619.07 Nature-of-authorship statement at variance
with statement on deposit.
619.08 Nature-of-authorship statement at variance with deposit.
619.09 Nature-of-authorship statement: unclear.
619.10 Nature-of-authorship statements: derivative works.
[February 1988]
Chapter 600
REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
Outline of Topics -5 –
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.11 Nature-of-authorship statements: compila-
tions.
620 Date of creation.
620.01 Date of creation: creation over a period of
time.
620.02 Date of creation: multiple versions of a
work.
620.03 Date of creation: apparently incorrect.
621 Publication.
621.01 No publication information given.
621.02 Publication information given.
621.03 Publication: extraneous statements on
application.
621.04 Publication: place of publication given
without date.
621.05 Publication: complete date of publication.
621.06 Publication: more than one date given.
621.07 Publication: errors and inconsistencies in
date of publication.
621.08 Publication: nation of first publication
omitted.
621.09 Publication: identification of nation of
first publication.
621.10 Publication: first published in different
countries on the same day.
622 Claimant: defined.
622.01 Name of claimant: required, with address.
622.02 Claimant: variance between claimant on
application and name in notice of copyright.
622.03 Claimant: abbreviated names at the claimant
space.
622.04 Claimant: pseudonym at claimant space.
622.05 Claimant: alternative claimants at the
claimant space.
622.06 Claimant: future and contingent interests.
622.07 Claimant: corporation sole at claimant space.
[February 1988]
Chapter 600
REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
Outline of Topics - 6 -
622 Claimant: defined. (cont'd)
622.08 Claimant: legal and equitable owners at claimant space.
622.09 Claimant: incorporation of claimant's name by
reference.
622.10 Claimant: designation of groups at claimant space.
622.11 Claimant: owner for limited term.
622.12 Claimant: deceased person named at claimant space.
622.13 Claimant: clarity of number of claimants.
622.14 Claimant: number of claims.
623 Transfers of copyright.
623.01 Transfers of copyright: transfer statements
on the application distinguished from docu-
ments.
623.02 Transfer of statements: non-author as claimant.
623.03 Transfer of statements: acceptable.
623.04 Transfer statements: unacceptable.
623.05 Transfer statement: extraneous information.
624 Previous registration space on the application.
624.01 Previous registration question answered
"Yes:" practices.
624.02 Previous registration: question answered "No."
625 Compilations.
625.01 Compilations: appropriate application form.
625.02 Compilations: registrable.
625.03 Compilations: unregistrable.
625.04 Compilation statements.
625.05 Compilation statements: acceptable.
626 Derivative works: definition.
626.01 Derivative works: general practices.
626.02 Preexisting material: when statement
required.
[February 1988]
Chapter 600
REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
Outline of Topics -7 -
626 Derivative works: definition. (cont'd)
626.03 Derivative-work statement given in either
"Preexisting Material" or "Material Added to
This Work" space.
626.04 Derivative works: material-added statement.
626.05 Material-added statement: unregistrable
material.
626.06 Material-added statement: description of
minimal elements.
[Number 627 is reserved.]
628 Reproduction for use of blind or physically-
handicapped individuals.
629 Certification by applicant.
629.01 Certification by applicant: authority to
submit application.
629.02 Certification by applicant: owner of exclu-
sive rights.
629.03 Certification by applicant: form of signa-
ture.
629.04 Certification by applicant: date of certifi-
cation.
630 Effective date of registration.
630.01 Effective date of registration: acceptable
application.
630.02 Effective date of registration: acceptable
deposits.
630.03 Effective date of registration: acceptable
fee.
630.04 Effective date of registration: effect of
receiving necessary minimal elements.
631 Referrals.
632 Cancellation.
632.01 General policy.
632.02 Circumstances under which a registration will
be cancelled.
632.03 Cancellation of renewal claim.
[February 1988]
CHAPTER 600
REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
601 Ap1icabi1ity of this chapter. This chapter states the Copyright Office practices and procedures for registering original claims to copyright. For renewal registrations, see Chapter 1300: RENEWAL OF COPYRIGHT. For supplementary registrations, see Chapter 1500: CORRECTIONS AND AMPLIFICATIONS OF COPYRIGHT OFFICE RECORDS; SUPPLEMENTARY REGISTRATIONS.
602 Registration: in genera1. Copyright registration
is intended to ma e a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright. In general, the copyright law does not require registration as a condition of copyright protection; but see section 602.01 below. Registration may, however, provide important advantages to copyright owners. Among these advantages are the following:
a) Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim.
b) Ordinarily registration is necessary before a copyright action for infringement may be filed in court. See 17 U.S.C. 411(a).
c) If made before or within five years of publication registration is prima facie evidence of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate. See 17 U.S.C. 410(c).
d) Statutory damages and attorney's fees may be awarded to the copyright owner in a court action, if registration is made before infringement occurs or if registration is made within three months after publication. See 17 U.S.C. 412.
See also Chapter 100: BASIC POLICIES.
600-1
[February 1988]
600-2
602 Registration: in general. (cont'd)
602.01 Registration: when necessary to preserve copyright. Copyright registration is required to preserve a copyright that would otherwise be invalidated because one or more of the required elements in the notice was omitted, or because the notice contained an error equivalent to no notice under the statute.
602.02 Registration: when registration may be made.
In general, registration may be ma e at any time during the life of the copyright. See 17 U.S.C. 408(a) and 302-305. With the exception of certain foreign works protected under provisions that implement the Universal Copyright Convention, works published before 1978 must be registered during the first term of copyright to be eligible for renewal registration. During the last year of the first term, an original and renewal claim for a work may be submitted together. See Chapter 1300: RENEWAL OF COPYRIGHT.
602.03 Registration distinguished from recordation. Registration and recordation are two separate acts: claims to copyright are registered; documents are recorded. For registration, the copyright owner sends a deposit, together with an application form and filing fee, in order to make the information concerning the claim to copyright a part of the Copyright Office records; but it is not generally required in order to obtain registration that a document of transfer be submitted. For recordation, the actual document (for example, a transfer or license) is sent. Applications or deposit copies or phonorecords do not serve this purpose.
[February 1988]
600-3
602 Registration: in general. (cont'd)
602.03 Registration distinguished from recordation.
See 17 U.S.C. 205 and Chapter 1600: RECOR-
DATION OF TRANSFERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS
PERTAINING TO A COPYRIGHT. In addition, the
Office will not accept an application for the
dual purpose of registering a claim and
recording a document. See section 623 below.
603 Elements required for basic registration. The
elements required or basic registrant on are 1) a
completed application form; 2) the statutory fee;
and 3) the appropriate deposit. See Chapter 700:
APPLICATIONS AND FEES, and Chapter 800: DEPOSIT
FOR REGISTRATION. These three elements should be
sent to the Copyright Office in the same package.
In general, if these elements are not sent
together, the Office will not begin the regis-
tration process. Instead it will return the
partial submission and will send the applicant
instructions on how to apply for copyright
registration. Published deposits received
without an accompanying application and either a
fee or a deposit account notation, will be
forwarded to the appropriate department of the
Library of Congress for use or disposal. Such
deposits will not thereafter be available for
registration. See 37 C.F.R. 202.19(£).
604 Application forms. The Copyright Office pre-
scribes five basic registration forms: Form SE
for serials, Form TX for other nondramatic
literary works, Form PA for works of the per-
forming arts (musical works, dramatic works,
choreographic works, pantomimes, motion pictures,
and other audiovisual works), Form SR for sound
recordings, and Form VA for works of the visual
arts (pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works).
In general, the application should be submitted
in the class most appropriate to the type of
authorship that predominates in the work being
registered. See Chapter 700: APPLICATIONS AND
FEES.
[February 1988]
600-4
604 Application forms. (cont'd)
604.01 Application forms: continuation sheets. In most cases, there is ample space on the principal application form for all the necessary information. Where there is not, the applicant should use an official continuation sheet provided by the Copyright Office. If the required information is given only on the continuation sheet, the Copyright Office may add it to the principal application (if the application has been signed) and file the continuation sheet, or it may use the continuation sheet with the principal application. If the continuation sheet contains solely duplicate material, the Copyright Office will use only the principal application in making registration. In such cases, the continuation sheet may be discarded.
605 Examination process. When the Copyright Office determines that the material deposited constitutes copyrightable subject matter and that the other legal and formal requirements of the copyright law have been met, it will register the claim and send to the applicant a certificate of registration under the seal of the Copyright Office. See 17 U.S.C. 410(a).
605.01 Examination process: communications about registration requirements. Generally, were the registration material is unacceptable or subject to question, the Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant. See Chapter 100: BASIC POLICIES. In general, the Office will not question the accuracy of a statement made on an application. However, the Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant where the material is subject to question, as for example, where the application is ambiguous, substantially incomplete, in conflict with other information in the registration material, or with
[February 1988]
600-5
605 Examination process. (cont'd)
605.01 Examination process: communications about
registration requirements. (cont’d)
information of which the Copyright Office may
take administrative notice, or indicates mis-
understanding of registration requirements.
See also Chapter 100: BASIC POLICIES, section
108.5.
605.02 Examination process: variances. A variance
exists when contradictory information is
present in the registration materials.
605.02(a) Variances: disregard. Where the variance
is immaterial, the Copyright Office will
disregard it.
Example:
The application names John Thomas
James as author. The phonorecords
deposited for registration give the
author's name, as Jon T. Thomas. The
Copyright Office will accept the
application.
605.02(b) Variances: annotate. Where the variance
is not immaterial but can be resolved for
the purposes of registration, the Copy-
right Office will annotate the applica-
tion to show the varying information.
See section 605.03 below.
Examples:
1) The title of the work on the phono-
record deposited for registration is
"The Quick Brown Fox. II The applica-
tion gives the title as "The Brown
Quick Fox." The Copyright Office
[February 1988]
600-6
605 Examination process. (cont'd)
605.02 Examination process: variances. (cont'd)
605.02(b) Variances: annotate. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
1 ) (cont'd)
will annotate the application to reflect the title appearing on the phonorecords.
2) The title on the copies is "On Nuclear Rearmament"; the application gives the title as, "No Nuclear Rearmament." The Copyright Office will annotate the application to reflect the title appearing on the copies.
605.(c) Variances: communicate. Where the variance is substantial, the Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
Example:
The application gives the name of the
author as "Mary Smith"; the name of the author on the copy is "Jane Amber." In the absence of information that one of the names is a pseudonym or that the work was made for hire, the Copyright Office will ask the applicant to explain the variance in the author's name.
605.03 Examination process: annotations. An annotation is a statement added to the application by the Copyright Office to amplify the record of facts affecting the copyright
claim. Specifically, annotations are made for the following purposes:
[February 1988]
600-7
605 Examination process. (cont'd)
605.03 Examination process: annotations. (cont'd)
1) To reflect certain variances. as noted at
section 605.02 above.
2) To add missing information. for example.
from the deposit. a continuation sheet or
a rider to the application. a previous
application. a letter from the applicant.
a telephone conversation. or a personal
interview.
3) To add comments to the application. for
example. to note an antedated copyright
notice. to note overlapping claims. to
note references by applicant to previous
correspondence as "previous registra-
tion." to note references to riders or
documents. or to note grants of special
relief.
4) Where authorized by applicant or where
otherwise appropriate. to correct or
Qt delete errors on the application.
605.03(a) Annotations: form. Annotations should be
typewritten or stamped in the space
marked "For Copyright Office Use Only."
and should include the source of the
information. Amendments should be keyed
by asterisks to numbered spaces on the
application.
605.04 The examination process: response from
applicant. In general. after the Copyright
Office has communicated with the applicant
about an error or question. the applicant
must respond within a reasonable time. or
the file will be closed. Once the file has
been closed. the applicant must submit a
new application. deposit. and filing fee
before the Office can reconsider registra-
tion.
[February 1988]
600-8
605.05 Examination process: "rule of doubt." The
Copyright Of ice will register a claim even though there is a reasonable doubt about the ultimate action which might be taken under the same circumstances by an appropriate court with respect to whether (1) the material deposited for registration constitutes copyrightable subject matter or (2) the other legal and formal requirements of the statute have been met. See Chapter 100: BASIC POLICIES.
605.06 Examination process: cautionary or warning letters. When registration is made under the rule of doubt, the Copyright Office may send a letter to the applicant cautioning that the claim may not be valid and stating the reason; and such a letter may warn, where appropriate, that the problem may exist for future works and point out how it can be avoided.
605.07 Examination process: not diminished by spec-
ial handling. Notwithstanding the expected treatment accorded special handling cases, these cases receive full examination by the Copyright Office.
606 Refusal to register. In any case in which the Register of Copyrights determines that, in accordance with the copyright law, the material deposited does not constitute copyrightable' subject matter or that the claim is invalid for any other reason, the Copyright Office will refuse registration and will notify the applicant in writing of the reasons for such refusal. See 17 U.S.C. 410(b), and Chapter 100: BASIC POLICIES.
[February 1988]
600-9
606 Refusal to register. (cont'd)
606.01 Refusal to register: unregistrable material.
Unregistrable material includes the follow-
ing:
a) Published works ineligible because of the
nationality of the author or place of
first publication. See 17 U.S.C. 104(b).
Chapter 1100: ELIGIBILITY.
b) Works not fixed in a tangible medium of
expression; see Chapter 200: COPYRIGHT-
ABLE MATTER -IN GENERAL.
c) Sound recordings fixed before February
15. 1972. See 17 U.S.C. 301 (c). and
Chapter 400: COPYRIGHTABLE MATTER -WORKS
OF THE PERFORMING ARTS AND SOUND RE-
CORDINGS.
d) Works that are not "original works of
authorship." See 17 U.S.C. 102(a). and
Chapter 200: COPYRIGHTABLE MATTER -IN
GENERAL.
e) Works whose term of copyright has ex-
pired.
f) Works of the United States Government.
See 17 U.S.C. 101 and 105.
g) Certain works that unlawfully employ pre-
existing copyrighted material. See 17
U. S .C. 1 03 (a).
h) Musical arrangements made under a com-
pulsory license without the express
consent of the copyright owner of the
preexisting work. See 17 U.S.C. 115.
[February 1988]
600-10
606 Refusal to register. (cont'd)
606.01 Refusal to register: unregistrable material. (cont'd)
i) Derivative works made under 17 U.S.C. 112(e) without the express permission of the copyright owner of the preexisting works employed in the transmission program. See 17 U.S.C. 112(e).
606.02 Refusal to register: failure to meet other
legal requirements of copyright. Where the
claim is invalid because certain other legal requirements have not been met, the Copyright Office will refuse registration. Examples include:
1 ) A work that went into the public domain before 1978, as determined by the law of 1909, as amended. See section 103 of the Transitional and Supplementary Provisions of the current Act and Compendium I.
2) In certain cases, works published under the current act without the required notice which were not registered within five years after such publication. See 17 U.S.C. 405(a), and Chapter 1000:
NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT.
606.03 Refusal to register: applicant unauthorized.
An application for registration can be submitted only by a person entitled to do so. See 37 C.F.R. 202.3(c)(1). The Copyright Office will refuse to register a claim when it has knowledge that the applicant is not authorized to submit the claim. See section 629.01 below.
[February 1988]
600-11
606 Refusal to register. (cont'd)
606.04 Refusal to register: request for reexamina-
tion. When the Copyright Office has refused
a claim as submitted, it notifies the appli-
cant in writing of the refusal to register.
After such notification, the applicant may
set forth in writing his or her objections to
the refusal and request that the Office
reconsider its action. 1£ the claim is
refused after reconsideration, the head of
the appropriate Examining Division section
will send the applicant written notifica-
tion of the reasons for refusal. The
applicant may again request reconsidera-
tion. If the claim is refused again, the
Chief of the Examining Division will notify
the applicant in writing of the reasons.
The Division Chief's decision constitutes
final agency action.
607 Registration as a single unit. Single unitary
works are ordinarily registered with one appli-
cation, deposit, and fee. Under Copyright Office
regulation, certain other works may also be
registered as a single unit. See 37 C.F.R.
202.3(b)(3).
607.01 Registration as a single unit: published
works. Works that are otherwise recognizable
as self-contained may be registered on a
single application and upon payment of a
single fee, if they are first published in a
single unit of publication and the copyright
claimant 0£ all works in the unit is the
same. See 37 C.F.R. 202.3(b)(3)(A); see also
37 C.F.R. 202.3(b)(S).
607.02 Registration as a sin le unit: unpublished
collections. For the purpose of registration
on a single application and payment of a
single fee, a number of unpublished works may
be registered as a single work, if:
[February 1988]
600-12
607 Registration as a single unit. (cont'd).
607.02 Registration as a single unit: unpublished
collections. (cont’d)
1) The elements are assembled in an orderly
form;
2) The combined elements bear a single title
identifying the collection as a whole;
3) The copyright claimant in all of the
elements, and in the collection as a
whole, is the same; and
4) All of the elements are by the same
author; or, if they are by different
authors, at least one of the authors has
contributed copyrightable authorship to
each element.
See 37 C.F.R. 202.3(b)(3)(i)(B).
607.02(a) Unpublished collections: conditions not
met. Where it is reasonably clear that
the conditions for registering unpub-
lished collections have not been met, the
application will be questioned. However,
where two or more titles are given in the
title space on the application, the Copy-
right Office will annotate the applica-
tion to show that the collection is
indexed only under the first title.
Examples:
1) An application is submitted for four
selections naming A as an author of
all four selections and B as a co-
author of two selections7 The
copyright notices name! as the
[February 1988]
600-13
607 Registration as a single unit. (cont'd)
607.02 Registration as a single unit: unpublished
collections. (cont'd)
607.02(a) Unpublished collections: conditions not
met. (cont ' d)
Examples: (cont'd)
1) (cont'd)
sole claimant of the selections of
which he or she was sole author, and
the notices for the other two selec-
tions name A and B. The Copyright
Office will communicate with the
applicant to determine whether all
four selections are the subject of a
single claim.
2) Seven works are submitted with an
application naming A and B as authors
and claimants. A wrote the first
three works in the collection, and B
wrote, the other four selections. The
Copyright Office will request that
the applicant regroup the works and
submit applications and fees for two
collections. Or, the applicant may
wish to submit separate applications
and fees for each work.
3) Form SR gives author A as author of
words, music, and performance for all
songs in the collection and author B
as author of words and music only.
The claimants are A and B. The
Copyright Office will communicate
with the applicant to verify whether
author B (apparently having contri-
buted no sound recording authorship),
is a joint claimant of the sound
recording. If author B is a joint
[February 1988]
600-14
607 Registration as a single unit. (cont'd)
607.02 Registration as a unit: unpublished
collections. (cont’d)
607.02(a) Unpublished collections: conditions not
met.
Examples: (cont'd)
3) (cont'd)
claimant, a transfer statement will
be requested. See section 623 below.
If he or she is not, the common
claimant requirement has not been met
as to the sound recording. In that
case, the Copyright Office will
request a separate Form PA for the
words and music and a separate Form
SR for the sound recording, as well
as an additional fee.
607.02(b) Unpublished collections: extent of claim.
Registration of an unpublished collection
extends to each copyrightable element in
the collection and to the authorship, if
any. involved in selecting and assembling
the collection. See 37 C.F.R. 202.03(b)
(3)(i)(B).
608 Works containing elements that a
owned. Works embodied in a single unit that are
separately owned must be registered separately.
Example:
A book containing a literary work by one
author and pictorial illustrations by another
author is submitted with an application
naming both authors as authors and claimants.
An accompanying letter states that each
[February 1988]
600-15
608 Works containing elements that are separately
owned. (cont'd)
Example: (cont'd)
author is the owner of his or her respective
contribution. The Copyright Office will
request for each work a separate fee and
separate application containing appropriate
limiting statements. One appropriate deposit
will suffice. See Chapter 800: DEPOSIT FOR
REGISTRATION.
609 One basic registration per work. In general. the
copyright owner may make only one basic registra-
tion per work. See 37 C.F.R. 202.3(b)(6).
609.01 One registration per work: exceptions. The
rule of one basic registration per work is
subject to certain exceptions, for example:
1) A work registered in unpublished form is
later published without change. See 37
C.F.R. 202.3(b)(6)(i);
2) After another claimant has registered the
work. the author seeks another basic
registration. naming the author as
claimant. See 37 C.F.R. 202.3(b)(6)
(ii); see also section 624.01 (a) below;
3) A qualified applicant states that an
earlier registration was unauthorized
and invalid. See 37 C.F.R. 202.3(b)
(6)(iii).
See also Chapter 100: BASIC POLICIES. section
108.06.
609.01 (a) Applications that overlap in part rece-
ived at the same claimant for the same work in
different classes. In general. where the
[February 1988]
600-16
609 One basic registration per work. (cont'd)
609.01 (a) One registration per work: exceptions.
(cont'd)
Examiner is aware that applications that
overlap in part were received at the same
time on behalf of the same claimant in
different classes, the Copyright Office
will register both claims and indicate by
annotation that the claims overlap in
part.
Examples:
1) Forms PA and SR, submitted for unpub-
lished works on behalf of the same
claimant, are received in the Copy-
right Office on the same day. Each
application describes the claim as
"Music and Sound Recording." Both
claims will be registered. The Form
PA will be annotated to state: "Sound
recording registered separately in
Class SR." The Form SR will be anno-
tated to state: Music registered
separately in Class PA."
2) A corporation submits two applica-
tions, one on Form VA and the other
on Form TX, for two posters published
on the same day. One poster contains
artwork: the other contains the same
artwork plus copyrightable text. The
Form TX will be annotated to state:
"Artwork registered separately in
Class VA."
609.02 Separated applications for separately iden-
tifiable parts accepted or separately identifiable parts
of a work.
600-17
609 One basic registration per work. (cont'd)
609.02 Separated applications for separately identi-
fiable parts. (cont’d)
Example:
A multimedia kit, including a motion pic-
ture and a workbook, is submitted along
with two applications, a Form PA stating
a claim on the motion picture, and a Form
TX stating a claim on the workbook. Each
application names the same claimant.
Both of the applications are acceptable.
610 Registering different versions of a work. The
definition of “created” (17 U.S.C. 101) states
that different versions constitute separate
works. When registration is sought for different
versions and separate applications are submitted
to the Copyright Office at the same time, the
manner of registering these works depends on
whether they contain copyrightable differences
distinguishable under the copyright law, and
whether they have been published.
610.01 Registering different copyrightable versions
of a work: unpublished works. Where two or
more unpublished versions of a work are
submitted together and each version contains
different copyrightable material sufficient
to support a claim on its own, the Copyright
Office will register the claims separately,
if separate applications and fees are sub-
mitted. The applications need contain no
limiting statements to account for the
similar material being registered in the
other versions. See section 621 below. If a
single application, fee, and single title are
provided for the works and the other require-
ments are met, the Office will register the
different versions as an unpublished collec-
tion.
[February 1988]
600-18
610 Registering different versions of a work.
(cont'd)
610.01 Registering different copyrightable versions
of a work: unpublished works. (cont'd)
Examples:
1) Applicant submits three applications and
three versions of an unpublished musical
composition for SSA, SATB, and SAB voice
groupings, the three versions containing
essentially the same melody and rhythm.
If the versions contain copyrightable
differences --if, for example, they
contain different harmonic arrangements
--each claim may be registered without
limitations.
2) A single application and fee are sub-
mitted with a group of T-shirt designs.
The artwork on several of the designs is
identical, except that the captions are
different. The claim is in "artwork."
The claim will be registered as sub-
mitted.
610.02 Registering different copyrightable versions
of a work: published works. As a rule, works
published separately must be registered sepa-
rately, including versions which have been
published separately on the same day. An
exception to this rule is made for news-
papers, which may be registered with one
application and fee, provided the editions
or sections were published on the same day.
[February 1988]
600-19
610 Registering different versions of a work.
(cont'd)
610.02 Registering different copyrightable versions
of work: published works. (cont’d)
Examples:
1) A single application giving a single date
of publication is submitted with copy-
rightable different versions of the same
musical composition --for SSA, SAB, and
SATB. If there is no indication that
these versions were not first published
as a unit, the Copyright Office will
register the claims.
2) An application giving a single date of
publication is submitted with a news-
paper, "The Washington Daily," and
regional inserts from Prince George's
County, Montgomery County, and the
District of Columbia. The application
and deposit will be considered accept-
able.
3) An application is submitted with two
versions of a newspaper, the Morning
Edition and the Late Edition of the
"Baltimore Post." Although the editions
were published at different times during
the day, the application will be con-
sidered acceptable.
610.03 Registering different versions of an unpub-
lished work.: versions containing uncopy-
rightable differences. Where two or more
unpublished versions of a work contain only
uncopyrightable differences, the applicant
[February 1988]
600-20
610 Registering different versions of a work.
(cont'd)
610. 03 Registering different versions of an unpub-
lished work: versions containing uncopy-
rightable differences. (cont’d)
may make only one registration. All versions
of the work, however, may be included in one
deposit.
Example:
An applicant submits three Christmas
cards with the same visual and textual
content; each card is a different color.
Three applications and fees are submit-
ted. The Copyright Office will communi-
cate with the applicant stating that only
one registration may be made, but that
all versions may be included in a single
registration.
610.04 Registering different versions of a published
work: versions containing uncopyrightable
differences.
- Where two or more versions containing the
same copyrightable content have been pub-
lished in the same unit, the Copyright
Office will make only one registration,
including all components.
- Where the versions have been published
separately but at the same time, the
Office will register only one claim. In
such cases, the applicant should deposit
the best edition. See 43 Fed. Reg. 766
and Chapter 800: DEPOSIT FOR REGISTRATION.
If none of the published versions can be
considered better than the others, the
applicant may choose the version he or she
wishes to deposit and register.
[February 1988]
600-21
610 Registering different versions of a work.
(cont 1 d)
610.04 Registering different versions of a published
work: versions containing uncopyrightable
differences. (cont'd)
- Where the versions have been published
separately at different times, the Office
will register only one claim. The appli-
cation should give the date of first pub-
lication, and in such cases. the applicant
should deposit the best edition. If none
of the published versions can be consid-
ered better than the others. the applicant
may submit whichever version he or she
prefers.
Examples:
1) An application, filing fee, and iden-
tifying material for jewelry designs are
received for a published collection of
earrings. bracelet, pendant. and pin.
All components of the set contain the
same copyrightable authorship. The
Copyright Office will register the claim
as submitted, accepting the set as the
unit of publication. See 37 C.F.R.
202. 3(b)(3)(A).
2) Three applications are submitted with
high. medium, and low voice versions of a
book of musical selections entitled
"Wedding Classics." The date of publi-
cation on each application is the same.
Since the only difference among the
versions is that they are in different
keys, the Copyright Office will register
only one claim. The appropriate deposit
depends on the unit of publication. If
the versions were published together, the
Copyright Office will accept all the
[February 1988]
600-22
610 Registering different versions of a work.
(cont'd)
610.04 Registering different versions of a published
work: versions containing uncopyrightable
differences. (cont’d)
Examples: (cont'd)
2) (cont'd)
components in making one registration.
If they were published separately, the
applicant may deposit the version he or
she prefers.
3) Separate applications are received for
two books of poems. The literary and
pictorial content of the books is the
same; however, one edition is published
in hardcover, while the other edition is
paperback. The applications indicate
that the hardcover edition was published
two months after the paperback edition.
Only one claim will be registered. The
Copyright Office will use the application
giving the first date of publication and
the hardcover edition as the best edition
as of the date of deposit.
610.05 Registering different versions of an unpub-
lished work: overlapping or duplicate claims
in different versions, one version more
complete. Where an applicant submits two or
more versions of the same unpublished work,
separate registrations may be made if the
versions contain copyrightable differences.
If there are no copyrightable differences.
registration will be made for the most
complete version, or a single registration
may be made for all of the versions, if the
conditions for an unpublished collection are
[February 1988]
600-23
610 Registering different versions of a work.
(cont'd)
610.05 Registering different versions of an unpub-
lished work: overlapping or duplicate claims
in different versions, one version more
complete. (cont'd)
met. See section 607.02 above. However, if
there are separable types of authorship into
which the work may be divided, separate
claims may be registered provided the
applications clearly define the extent of
each claim.
Examples:
1) Two versions of an unpublished Kiwanis
Song Book with separate applications and
fees are submitted, one containing only
song lyrics, the other containing the
song lyrics set to music. Both versions
may be registered with an annotation to
the application for the most complete
version stating "Song lyrics registered
separately.”
2) Two applications and fees are submitted
for an unpublished black and white line
drawing and a color version containing
the same copyrightable content. The
Copyright Office will register only one
claim but will include both versions in
the deposit for registration.
3) Two applications and fees are submitted
with two versions of a drama: a two-act
version and a three-act version. The
two-act work is a registrable abridgment.
Both applications will be accepted.
[February 1988]
600-24
610 Registering different versions of a work.
(cont'd)
610.06 Registering different versions of a published
work: one version more complete. The manner
of registering publicized versions -- where
one version embodies the entire copyrightable
content of another version and also contains
additional copyrightable material -- depends
on when the versions were published.
610.06(a) Registering different versions of a
published work: less complete version published first.
version was published first, both ver-
sions may be registered. The claim in
the more complete version should cover
only the material not previously pub-
lished, that is, the application should
contain a statement limiting the claim.
Example:
A book of photography is submitted
with an application giving a publi-
cation date of June 2, 1983. The
claim is in "Photographs." Another
book containing the same photographs
and some sketches is submitted at the
same time. The application for this
work gives the publication date as
June 15, 1983. The claim is in
"Photographs and drawings." Both
claims may be registered. The
application for the book containing
the photographs alone may be accepted
as submitted. The Copyright Office
will communicate with the applicant
for a limitation of the claim on the
application for the later published
book.
[February 1988]
600-25
610 Registering different versions of a work.
(cont'd)
610.06 Registering different versions of a
work: one version more complete. (cont’d)
610.06(b) Registering different versions of a
published work: more complete version
published first. If the more complete
version is published first, the less
complete version may not be registered;
the Copyright Office will not knowingly
register a claim in a work where all of
the copyrightable content has been pre-
viously published.
Example:
Separate applications are received
for the Teacher's and Student's
Edition of a textbook. The Teacher's
Edition contains all of the text and
pictorial material in the Student's
Edition, plus additional instruc-
tions, questions, answers, and
commentary. The application for the
Teacher's Edition gives January 22,
1980 as the publication date. The
date of publication for the Student ' s
Edition is February 1, 1980. The
Copyright Office will register the
Teacher's Edition but will refuse to
register the claim in the Student's
Edition.
610.06(c) Registering different versions of a pub-
lished work where one version more com-
plete: versions published at the same
time. Where two or more versions are
published separately, but at the same
time, with one version being more
complete, one registration may be made
[February 1988]
600-26
610 Registering different versions of work.
(cont'd)
610.06 Registering different versions of a published
work where one version more complete. (cont’d)
610.06(c) Registering different versions of a pub-
lished work where one version more com-
plete: versions published at the same
time. (cont'd)
for the most complete version. If the
applicant wishes, and the more complete
versions contain additional copyrightable
material, separate registrations may be
made. In such case, the applications,
preferably at the title space, should
clearly distinguish the versions from one
another.
Examples:
1) Separate applications are submitted
for two versions of a musical com-
position that are published on the
.same day. One version contains music
and lyrics in the English language,
the other contains Spanish lyrics in
addition to the English lyrics and
music. Both applications claim in
"music and lyrics." The Copyright
Office will annotate the application
for the Spanish version stating:
"English lyrics and music registered
separately."
2) Separate applications are submitted
for two versions of a racetrack pro-
gram: one, a photograph of "Swale,"
the 1984 winner of the Kentucky
Derby, and another containing that
same photograph plus a second photo-
graph depicting his trainer. Both
[February 1988]
600-27
610 Registering different versions of a work.
(cont'd)
610.06 Registering different versions of a published
work: one version more complete. (cont’d)
610.06(c) Registering different versions of a pub-
lished work where one version more com-
plete: versions published at the same
time. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
2) (cont'd)
applications will be accepted, but
the application for the version con-
taining the two photographs will be
annotated: "Authorship in photograph
of horse registered separately."
610.07 Registering different versions of a work
published at the same time: overlapping
versions. Where different versions are
published separately but at the same time,
and the elements of one version are not
completely subsumed in another version,
separate registrations may be made without
annotating the applications or otherwise
limiting the claims.
Example:
Separate applications are submitted for
two versions of a book published on the
same day: one in English with illustra-
tions, and the other in Swedish, con-
taining the same illustrations. Both
applications state: "Text and illustra-
tions" as the basis of claim. The
applications will be accepted as sub-
mitted.
[February 1988]
600-28
[Number 611 is reserved.]
612 Examining practices for each space on the appli-
cation form. The following states the general
examining practices for each space on the appli-
cation form.
612.01 General policy: location of information. In
general, although the required information
should be given in the appropriate space, the
Copyright Office will not require a new
application where the required information is
given elsewhere on the application form or on
a "rider." Riders do not remain with the
application after the Office has registered
the claim. See section 605.03 above.
612.02 General policy: minimum standards. The
practices stated below represent minimum
standards for the acceptance by the Copyright
Office of completed applications. The Office
will register a claim where it believes the
record of facts about the copyright meets
these standards. Where an applicant seeks
advice from the Office before preparing the
application, however, the Office will suggest
that the application be completed in such a
manner as to put an optimum claim on record.
See Chapter 100: BASIC POLICIES, section
109.03(a).
612.03 General policy: correspondence to cover all
informalities. When it is determined that
correspondence is required, the Copyright
Office may point out all problems raised by
the application or deposit, even if those
problems standing alone would not be a
sufficient reason to delay registration.
[February 1988]
600-29
613 Title of the work. The application for copyright
registration shall include the title of the work,
together with any previous or alternative titles
by which the work may be identified. See 17
U.S.C. 409(6). In any case where the Office
cannot determine that the application and deposit
relate to the same work, the Office will
communicate with the applicant.
Examples:
- Title on application: "A History of France"
Deposit: Untitled. (Manuscript appears
unrelated to the title.)
The Copyright Office will communicate with
the applicant.
2) Title on copy: "Davidson's Biology for
Preparatory Study"
Title on application: "Poems for Shona and
Liletha"
The Copyright Office will communicate with
the applicant.
613.01 Title of the work: omitted. Both the appli-
cation and the deposit material should give
the title of the work. In general, where the
title is given in the registration materials,
but is omitted from the application or
deposit, the Copyright Office will add the
title where it is missing, except to pub-
lished printed material. See section
613.01 (c) below.
613.01(a) Title of the work: omitted from applica-
tion. Where the title is not given on
application but is given in other
registration material, the Copyright
Office will add the title to the appli-
cation at the title space with an anno-
tation reading "Added by C.O. from
[source]."
[February 1988]
600-30
613 Title of the work. (cont'd)
613.01 Title of the work: omitted. (cont'd)
613.01 (b) Title of the work: omitted from unpub-
lished deposit. Where the title is not
given on the deposit for an unpublished
work, but is given on the application,
the Copyright Office will add the title
to the deposit or to a separate page and
attach it to the deposit. The title
should be keyed by asterisk to the
following annotation: "Added by C.O. from
appl." Where space is limited, the
Copyright Office will add the title to a
sticker or tag and attach it to the
deposit. The title should be added in
the following form: "[title] *C.O."
613.01(c) Title of the work omitted from published
deposit. Where the title is omitted from
the deposit of a published work, but a
title is given on the application, the
Copyright Office will annotate the appli-
cation with a statement: "No title on
deposit ." Where the work consists of
multiple parts, the annotation should
include the number of components, title
of first component, if available, and
such other identifiers, e.g., numbers or
letters, as are available. If the
deposit is a print or other visual arts
material without text, the title can be
added lightly in pencil to the reverse of
the deposit. If the deposit is identify-
ing material, the title will be added to
the deposit by annotation: "[title]
*C.O." or "Added by C.O. from appl."
613.01(d) Title of the work: omitted from appli-
cation and deposit. In general, where
there is no title given for a work on any
of the registration materials, the Copy-
right Office will ask the applicant for
[February 1988]
600-31
613 Title of the work. (cont'd)
613.01 Title of the work: omitted. (cont'd)
613.01 (d) Title of the work omitted from applica-
tion and deposit. (cont'd)
the title of the work. When this infor-
mation is received, the Copyright Office
will add it to the work or will annotate
the application according to the prac-
tices described in section 613.01 (b) or
(c) above. Where the work has been given
a nondescriptive title, such as "Unti-
tled," the Copyright Office will accept
the application as submitted. See
section 613.02 below.
613.02 Title of the work: nondescriptive titles.
For registration purposes, there is no
requirement that the title of a work be
descriptive. Thus, nondescriptive titles,
such as "Untitled," "Print No.1," or "Study
in Black," (for a painting in tones other
than black), are acceptable titles. Also,
titles consisting solely of letters or
numbers, such as "1-101111 and "MX" are
acceptable. However, an application whose
principal title consists solely of non-
alphanumeric characters will not be cataloged
under such title. Instead, the work will be
cataloged as "nonprintable data."
613.03 Title of the work: foreign-language titles.
Works in foreign languages using
the Roman alphabet will be cataloged under
their foreign language titles. Other
foreign-language titles will be translit-
erated into the Roman alphabet by the Cata-
loging Division.
(February 1988]
600-32
613 Title 0£ the work. (cont'd).
613.04 Title of the work: variances. When partial
variances occur between the application and
deposit, the Copyright Office may annotate
the application if the more complete form of
the title is given on the deposit. Where
complete variances occur between the title
given on the application and on the deposit
for a work, but it is clear that the appli-
cation and deposit are for the same work, the
Office will annotate the application to show
both titles. Any title variance, including
minor typographical errors, will be annotated
at the option of the Office. In any case
where the Office cannot determine that the
application and deposit relate to the same
work, the Office will communicate with the
applicant.
Examples:
1) Title on copy: "The Quest for Rest Among
Insomniacs"
Title on application: "Rest Quest".
The application will be accepted with the
full title added by annotation.
2) Title on copy: "The Quest for Rest Among
Insomniacs"
Title on application: "The Quest for
Rest"
The application may be accepted without
annotation.
613.04(a) Variances involving generic titles. Where
the title on the deposit adds substan-
tially to the identity of the work and
the title given on the application is a
generic title, the Copyright Office will
add the full title to the application in
an annotation.
[February 1988]
600-33
61 613 Title of the work. (cont'd)
613.04 Title of the work: variances. (cont'd)
613.04(a) Variances involving generic titles.
(cont'd)
Example:
Title on application: "Ballade"
Title on copy: "Ballade No.6 in E
minor"
The application will be accepted with
an annotation.
613.05 Title of the work: unpublished collections.
Where a number of sections are being regis-
tered as an unpublished collection, the
application should give one title for the
whole collection, but that title may also be
the title of one of the individual selec-
tions. Individual titles may be given at the
space marked: "Previous or Alternative
Titles," or preferably, on the continuation
sheet. The application and any continuation
sheets form part of the registration records
for the work; therefore, the Examiner should
forward all such sheets for registration.
Individual titles generally are not indexed
unless they are later made the subject of a
supplementary registration. See Chapter
1500: CORRECTIONS AND AMPLIFICATIONS OF
COPYRIGHT OFFICE RECORDS; SUPPLEMENTARY
REGISTRATIONS. Where two or more titles are
given in the registration materials for an
unpublished collection and no single title is
designated, the Copyright Office will add an
asterisk to the first title on the applica-
tion and add the following annotation:
"Collection indexed under first title.
[February 1988]
600-34
613 Title of the work. (cont’d)
613.06 Title of the work: contributions to published
collections. one or more individual con-
tributions to a published collection are
being registered, as distinguished from the
collective work itself, the application
should give the individual titles of the
contributions being registered, followed by
the title of the collection.
Example:
"’A Song for Malinda I and 101 Balloul’” in
"Ballads for Jazz Singers"
613.06(a) Title of contributions to published col-
lections: same title as collection.
Where the individual title of a contribu-
tion and the collective work title are
the same. the Copyright Office will not
communicate with the applicant unless it
is unclear whether the applicant intends
to register the individual work or the
collective work and registration as
either an individual work or a collective
work would require correspondence.
Examples:
1) Title on application: "Celebrating
You."
Title on phonorecord album: "Cele-
brating You." The album also con-
tains an individual selection en-
titled "Celebrating You," along with
eight other songs. The author named
on the application wrote all songs on
the album; two phonorecords are de-
posited. The application is accept-
able without annotation since the
Office assumes that the entire col-
lective work is being registered.
[February 1988]
600-35
613 Title of the work. (cont'd)
613.06 Title of the work: contributions to published
collections. (cont'd)
613.06(a) Title of contributions to published col-
lections: same title as collection.
(cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
2) Title on application: "Lovers and
Friends."
Phonorecord title of album: "LOVERS
AND FRIENDS" contains an individual
selection also entitled "Lovers and
Friends." The individual selection
is by the author named on the appli-
cation; other works by different
authors are included. One record is
deposited. The Copyright Office will
annotate the application stating "as
contained in LOVERS AND FRIENDS. II
3) Title on application: "The Pink
Giraffe."
Title on collection of plays: THE
PINK GIRAFFE. The collection con-
tains a play by that name and four
other plays. The author named on the
application wrote three plays,
including the one entitled "The Pink
Giraffe." Different authors wrote
the other two plays. Where the other
plays by the author named on the
application are not excluded from the
claim elsewhere on the application,
the Copyright Office will communicate
with the applicant to determine
whether the claim covers only the
play entitled "The Pink Giraffe" or
whether it also extends to the other
two plays by that author.
[February 1988]
600-36
613 Title of the work. (cont'd)
613.06 Title of the contributions to published col-
lections: same title as collection.
613.06(b) Title of the work: collection title
omitted. Where the collection title and
the title of the individual work are not
the same and the application gives the
title of the individual selection being
registered but does not give .the title of
the collection, the application is
acceptable without annotation.
613.06(c) Title of the work: completion of "Publi-
cation as a Contribution" space. Where
the application contains a space marked
"Publication as a Contribution" and the
application omits information about the
collective work, the Copyright Office
will add the missing information by
annotation except where the work being
registered is an advertisement. See
section 613.06(d) below. Where the work
being registered is clearly a
contribution to a collective work, but
neither the application nor the deposit
copy includes information about the
collective work, the Office may request
that information.
NOTE: A space for "Publication as a
Contribution" is included on Forms VA and
TX. See also Form SE.
613.06(d) Title of the work: completion of col-
lective work information where advertise-
ment is being registered. Where the work
being registered is an advertisement, but
the "Publication as a Contribution" space
is not completed, the application is
acceptable without annotation.
[February 1988]
600-37
613 Title of the work. (cont'd)
613.06 Title of the work: contributions to published
collections. (cont'd)
613.06(e) Title of the work: variance in collective
work information. Where the "Publication
as a Contribution" space contains publi-
cation information that varies entirely
from the information on the deposit, the
application is acceptable without anno-
tation if the deposit conforms with the
requirement of the "best edition" and
this edition contains the same copyright-
able content as that in which the work
was first published. Where there is a
partial variance between the application
and deposit such as between issue or
volume number, or page numbers, on which
the contribution appears, the Copyright
Office will annotate the application.
613.07 Title of the work: previous or alternative
titles. Previous or alternative titles serve
as additional means of identifying the work
being registered. These titles may also
assist in accounting for variances between
the title on the deposit and the title given
in the title space on the application. The
"Previous or Alternative Titles" space on the
application refers to the work being regis-
tered rather than to any other version of the
work. If, however, someone searching for a
registration might be likely to look under
titles of other versions, they may appropri-
ately be listed in that space. In any event,
the Copyright Office will not initiate corre-
spondence with the applicant regarding these
titles.
NOTE: A space for previous or alternative
titles is not included on all forms.
[February 1988]
600-38
614 Nature-of-work space. Forms PA and VA contain a
nature-of-work space. This space should give a
description of the general nature and character
of the work being registered. A description of
the physical form of the work is generally
acceptable. Ordinarily, the Copyright Office
will not consider the omission or incorrect
completion of information in the nature-of-work
space as a reason, in itself, for communicating
with the applicant. The nature-of-work statement
may be considered an adequate statement of the
basis of the claim where the authorship space is
blank or the statement of authorship is not
specific. See sections 619 and 626 below.
Examples of acceptable nature-of-work statements:
1) PA Applications: 2) VA Applications:
"Audiovisual work" "Charcoal drawing"
"Choreography" "Etching"
"Drama" "Fabric design"
"Motion Picture" "Jewelry design"
"Music" "Map"
"Song lyrics" "Oil painting"
"Photograph"
"Sculpture"
"Technical drawing"
614.01 Nature-of-work s ace: both nature-of-work and
nature-of-authorship statements omitted.
Where both the nature-of-work and the
nature-of-authorship statements are nonde-
scriptive or are omitted altogether, but the
extent of the claim is clear, the Copyright
Office will annotate the nature-of-work space
and describe the deposit.
Examples of annotations:
1) "Deposit contains artwork."
2) "Lyrics and music deposited."
3) "Deposit consists of identifying material
for soft sculpture."
[February 1988]
600-39
614 Nature-of-work space. (cont'd)
614.01 Nature-of-work space: both nature-of-work and
nature-of-authorship statements omitted.
(cont'd)
614.01 (a) Nature-of-work and nature-of-authorship
statements omitted: claim unclear. Where
the nature of work and the nature of
authorship statements are omitted from
the application, or where the statements
are nondescriptive, and the extent of the
claim is not clear from the deposit, the
Copyright Office will communicate with
the applicant.
Example:
An application Form VA gives no
nature-of-work statement and the
nature-of-authorship statement is
"Entire work." The deposit is a
drawing of a three-dimensional useful
article. Because it is not clear from
the application and deposit whether
.~ the drawing is the subject of the
,.., claim or whether it is identifying
material for the useful article, the
Office will communicate with the
applicant.
614.02 Nature-of-work space: elements not contained
in deposit. The nature-of-work statement on
the application should refer only to elements
contained in the deposit. Where the nature-
of-work statement describes copyrightable
material that is not included in the deposit
and it appears clear that a claim is asserted
in the missing material, the Copyright Office
will communicate with the applicant. Where
the terms used to describe the nature of the
work broadly imply the presence of elements
not contained in the deposit, but the extent
of the claim is clear from statements else-
where on the application, the application
[February 1988]
600-40
614 Nature-of-work space. (cont'd)
614.02 Nature-of-work elements not contained
in deposit. (cont'd)
will be accepted. Where the nature-of-work
statement refers to a future use of the work,
rather than accurately describing the work
being registered, but the claim is described
elsewhere, the application is acceptable,
generally, without annotation. In such
cases, the Office will annotate only if the
nature-of-work statement clearly raises a
question concerning the nature of the work
being registered.
Examples:
1) Nature-of-work statement: "Music and
lyrics"
Nature of authorship: "Entire work"
Deposit: lyrics only
The Copyright Office will communicate
with the applicant unless the claim is
limited elsewhere on the application.
2) Nature of work: Dramatico-musical
Nature of authorship: Book and lyrics
The application is acceptable.
3) Nature of work: "Dramatico-mus1cal"
Nature of authorship: "Space left blank"
Deposit: Book and lyrics
The Office will annotate the application:
"Book and lyrics deposited."
[February 1988]
600-41
8 614 Nature-of-work space. (cont'd)
614.02 Nature-of-work elements not contained
in deposit. (cont’d)
Examples: (cont'd)
4) Nature of work: "Motion picture"
Nature of authorship: "Screenplay"
Deposit: Screenplay in textual form
The Office will annotate the application
as follows: "Deposit contains screenplay
in textual form."
614.03 Nature-of-work space: reference to uncopy-
rightable elements. Where the nature-of-work
statement on the application refers to
elements that are not within the subject of
copyright. as listed in 17 U.S.C. 102(b) or
37 C.F.R. 202.1. but the claim is appropri-
ately stated elsewhere. the Copyright Office
will annotate the application to make it
clear that copyright does not extend to the
uncopyrightable matter. In general. it will
not correspond with the applicant where there
is an error in describing the kind of work
being registered if the claim to copyright is
clear.
Examples:
1) Nature of work: "drill press concept"
Nature of authorship: "technical drawing"
The Copyright Office will annotate the
application with a statement reading:
"Concepts not copyrightable. 17 U.S.C.
102(b)."
[February 1988]
600-42
614 Nature-of-work space. (cont'd)
614.03 Nature-of-work space: reference to uncopy-
rightable elements. (cont'd)
2) Nature of work: "cartoon character"
Nature of authorship: "cartoon drawing"
The application is acceptable.
615 Name of author. The application shall include,
except in the case of an anonymous or pseudony-
mous work, the name of the author or authors.
See 17 U.S.C. 409(2). In general, the name of
each author should be given in a separate block
on the application. Where the application names
two or more authors in the same block, the
application will be accepted if sufficient
information is given about each author. See
section 615.04(d)(3) below.
615.01 Name of author: anonymous and pseudonymous
works. An “anonymous work” is a work on the
person is identified as author. A "pseudony-
mous work" is a work on the copies or phono-
records of which the author is identified
under a fictitious name. See 17 U.S.C. 101.
In general, the Copyright Office will not
correspond with the applicant about the
failure to complete the anonymous or
pseudonymous questions on the application in
an appropriate manner unless there is an
unresolvable variance in authorship state-
ments.
615.01 (a) Name of author: anonymous works --com-
pleting the space. Where a work is
anonymous, the applicant may: 1) leave
the name-of-author space blank on the
application, and check the appropriate
box, 2) state "anonymous," or 3) reveal
the author's identity.
[February 1988]
600-43
.615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.01 Name of author: anonymous and pseudonymous
works. (cont’d)
615.01 (b) Name of author: pseudonymous works --
completing the space. Where a work is
pseudonymous, the applicant may: 1)
leave the name-of-author space blank on
the application and check the pseud-
onymous box: "Yes,” 2) give the pseudonym
and identify it as such, or 3) give the
author's legal name, preferably making
clear which is the real name and which is
the pseudonym, as for example: "Judith
Barton, whose pseudonym is Madeline
Elster." See 17 U.S.C. 302(c).
615.02 Name of author: performing group designated
by a single fictitious name. Where the name
of a performing group is given on the copy or
phonorecord, that group may be named as the
author. Where such a group name is designa-
ted on the application as a pseudonym, the
Copyright Office will not question whether
the name identifies all members of the group
'II' nor question whether each member contributed
copyrightable authorship to the work. If,
however, there is any indication that each
and every member of the group did not con-
tribute copyrightable authorship, the Office
will request the names of individual authors
who did contribute copyrightable authorship.
Where the name of the author designates an
organization for which the work was made for
hire, the pseudonymous status is not appli-
cable. Instead, the work-made-for-hire
question on the application should be
answered: "Yes." See sections 615.01 above
and 615.05 below.
[February 1988]
600-45
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.04 Name of author: works made for hire.
(cont'd)
made for hire." See 17 U.S.C. 101 and section
615.05(c) below. The applicant, not the
Copyright Office, determines whether a work
is made for hire. Where the facts presented
do not appear to be consistent with the
statutory definition, however, the Office
will communicate with the applicant.
615.04(a) Works made for hire: employer-employee
relationships. The Copyright Office will
not require confirmation that a standard
employer-employee relationship exists.
In general, the Office will not question
an application where it appears that an
unpaid volunteer contributed to a work
made for hire.
Examples:
1) An application naming Faith Church as
an author of "sound recording per-
formance" states that the work was
made for hire. In an accompanying
letter, the applicant states that the
sound recording performance was by
unpaid choir members. The applica-
tion is acceptable.
2) An application Form SE for a schol-
arly journal names the journal as
author of editing. The Copyright
Office is informed that the editor
contributed authorship on behalf of
the journal on a volunteer basis.
The Office will register the claim as
submitted.
[February 1988]
600-46
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.04 Name of author: works made for hire.
(cont'd)
615.04(b) Works made for hire: within the scope of
duties. Questions may arise whether the
employee performed the work within the
scope of his or her duties. In such
cases. the Copyright Office will ordi-
narily accept the applicant's assertion.
Where the applicant seeks advice from the
Office. it will suggest that factors to
be considered include the intended agree-
ment between the employer and employee.
and the custom and usage in the particu-
lar trade involved.
615.04(c) Works made for hire: specially ordered or
commissioned works. The statue desig-
nates nine categories of specially
ordered or commissioned works that can be
considered works made for hire:
1) A contribution to a collective work;
2) A part of a motion picture or other
audiovisual work;
3) A translation;
4) A compilation;
5) An instructional text defined as a
literary. pictorial. or graphic work
prepared for publication and with the
purpose of use in systematic instruc-
tional activities;
6) A test;
7) Answer material for a test;
8) An atlas;
[February 1988]
600-47
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.04 Name of author: works made for hire.
(cont'd)
615.04(c) Works made for hire: specially ordered or
commissioned works.(cont'd)
9) A supplementary work, defined as a
work prepared for publication as a
secondary adjunct to a work by
another author for the purpose of
introducing, concluding, illustra-
ting, explaining, revising, com-
menting upon, or assisting in the use
of the other works, such as fore-
words, afterwords, pictorial illus-
trations, maps, charts, tables,
editorial notes, musical arrange-
ments, answer material for tests,
bibliographies, appendixes, and
indexes.
615.04(c)(1) Specially ordered or commissioned
works: not within designated cate-
gories. Where the Office has
ordered or commissioned but the work
does not appear to be within the nine
categories of works listed above, the
application will be questioned.
615.04(c)(2) Specially ordered or commissioned
works: written agreement. For a
specially ordered or commi8sioned
work to be considered a work made for
hire, the statute requires an agree-
ment signed by both parties stating
t:hat the work is to be considered a
work made for hire. In general,
however, the Copyright Office will
not ask the applicant to specify
whether a particular work was
commissioned or was created by an
[February 1988]
600-48
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.04 Name of author: works made for hire.
(cont'd)
615.04(c) Works made for hire: specially ordered or
commissioned works. (cont’d)
615.04(c)(2) Specially ordered or commissioned
works: written agreement. (cont’d)
employee, nor will it, when it is
clear that the work is specially
ordered or commissioned, ask the
applicant to verify the existence of
a written agreement.
615.04(d) Works made for hire: general practices.
The following are general practices
relating to the work-made-for-hire
question on the application.
615.04(d)~1) General practices: organization named
as author. Works authored by an
organization are necessarily created
by employees or commissioned parties ;
therefore, whenever an organization ,
is the author, the applicant should
answer "Yes" to the "for-hire" ques-
tion. If the application indicates
that such a work is not made for
hire, the Copyright Office will
communicate with the applicant.
Examples:
1) The application names the author
as "XYZ Corporation," and the
work-made-for-hire question is
answered: "No." The application
is not acceptable.
2) The application names "XYZ Cor-
poration" as the author. The
work-made-for-hire question is
[February 1988]
600-49
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.04 Name of author: works made for hire.
(cont'd)
615.04(d) Works made for hire: general practices.
(cont'd)
615.04(d)(1) General practices: organization named
as author. (cont’d)
Examples: (cont'd)
2) (cont'd)
not answered. The application
will be accepted as submitted on
the assumption that the work is
made for hire. NOTE: This prac-
tice pertains only to corpora-
tions. Applications for noncor-
porate organizations will be
questioned to clarify whether the
name of the author is correct.
615.04(d)(2) General practices: individual named
as author. Where an applicant names
an individual as author and does not
answer the work-made-for-hire ques-
tion, the application will be
accepted on the assumption that the
named individual created the work in
his or her own right. Where the
applicant answers "Yes" to the "for-
hire'. question and the named author
appears to be a natural person
(rather than an organization), the
Copyright Office will communicate
with the applicant only if such a
relationship seems unlikely according
to the information presented by the
registration materials.
[February 1988]
600-50
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.04 Name of author: works made for hire.
(cont'd)
615.04(d) Works made for hire: general practices.
(cont'd)
615.04(d)(2) General practices: individual named
as author. (cont'd)
Examples:
1) Individual is named as producer
of motion picture, and the work-
made-for-hire question is
answered: "Yes." The Copyright
Office will accept the assertion
without question.
2) An application for a drama names
Sue Smith as author of a work for
hire. The Copyright Office may
ask the applicant whether Ms.
Smith created the work in her own
right or was the employer or
other person for whom the work
was made for hire. If, after
such inquiry, the applicant indi-
cates that she is the employee,
the Office will request a new
application naming the correct
author.
615.04(d)(3) General practices: individual and
unincorporated business organization
named as authors. The application
should name only one entity in any
particular authorship block. How-
ever, where an individual and an
apparently unincorporated business
association are named in the same
block and it seems likely that the
organization is merely a trade name
[February 1988]
600-51
615 Name of author. (cont’d)
615.04 Name of author: works made for hire.
(cont'd)
615.04(d) Works made for hire: general practices.
(cont'd)
615.04(d)(3) General practices: individual and unincorporated business organization named as authors. (cont’d)
or other assumed name of the indi-
vidual, the application will be
accepted. The Copyright Office will
consider the individual and the non-
corporate organization as the same
legal entity where the relationship
is stated in the registration mate-
rials, or where the individual and
organization are related by name.
Where any organization, however,
corporate or not, as distinguished
from a person using an assumed name,
is clearly the author, but the appli-
cant answers: 'No" to the work-for-
hire statement, the application will
be questioned.
Examples:
1) The application names as author
"Pamela Bethel, doing business as
Patti Bell Music." No answer is
given to the work-made-for-hire
question. The application will
be accepted.
2) The application names as author
"Jane Smith, trading as Acme
Company." The work-made-for-hire
question is answered: "No.” The
application will be accepted on
the assumption that Jane Smith is
an individual author in her own
right.
[February 1988]
600-52
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.04 Name of author: works made for hire.
(cont'd)
615.04(d) Works made for hire: general practices.
(cont'd)
615.04(d)(3) General practices: individual and
unincorporated business organization
named as author. (cont’d)
Examples: (cont'd)
3) An application names as author
"Associated Advertisers (Virginia
McDonald)" on the same line in
the authorship space. The work-
for-hire question is not an-
swered. The application will be
questioned.
615.04(d)(4) General practices: individuals and
incorporated organizations named as
authors. Where an application names
as author an individual in combina-
tion with an incorporated organiza-
tion. the Copyright Office will not
consider the organization to be an
assumed or trade name of the indi-
vidual. Instead. it will consider
the individual and the organization
as separate entities. Therefore. if
the application does not make clear
the identity of the author or whether
or not the work is made for hire. the
Office will communicate with the
applicant. On the other hand. where
it is clear that the organization is
the author and that the relationship
between the individual and the
organization is merely descriptive.
the application will not be ques-
tioned.
[February 1988]
600-53
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.04 Name of author: works made for hire.
(cont'd)
615.04(d) Works made for hire: general practices.
(cont'd)
615.04(d)(4) General practices: individuals and
incorporated organizations named as
authors. (cont’d)
Example:
An application names as author
"Richard Smith, doing business as
Smith Publishing Company, Inc."
Regardless of how the work-for-
hire question is answered, for
registration purposes, the
Copyright Office does not
consider these two names to
represent a single entity. The
Office will communicate with the
applicant to clarify both whether
the work was made for hire and
whether the author is Mr. Smith
or the Smith Publishing Company,
Inc.
615.04(e) General practices: song service organi-
zations. The following practices re-
lating to works made for hire apply to
works by song service organizations.
615.04(e)(1) Song service organizations: defined.
Although song service organizations
may offer a variety of music related
services --"vanity publishing, "
"ghost writing," composing music and
lyrics --the primary business of
these organizations appears to be
providing music for song lyrics
[February 1988]
600-54
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.04 Name of author: works made for hire.
(cont'd)
615.04(e) General practices: song service organi-
zations. (cont'd)
615.04(e)(1) Song service organizations: defined.
(cont'd)
written by individuals. The
lyricists pay a fee for the service.
They may be offered a choice of
musical settings, but usually there
is no collaboration between the
lyricist and the organization's staff
composer.
615.04(e)(2) Son service organizations: prac-
tices. Because these organizations
usually maintain that the music
provided by their staff is made for
hire on behalf of the lyricist and
not on behalf of the organization
itself, the Copyright Office will not
question statements on the applica-
tion naming the individual as the
author for whom music or both words
and music were prepared for hire.
See sections 623 and 619.08 below.
Examples:
1) The application names "Jane Doe"
as individual author of "words."
The work-made-for-hire question
in this block is not answered.
In a separate block, "Jane Doe"
is named as author of "music,"
and the "work-made-for-hire
question in this block is
checked: "Yes." The application
will be accepted.
[February 1988]
600-55
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.04 Name of author: works made for hire.
(cont'd)
615.04(e) General. service organi-
zations.
615.04(e)(2) General practices: individuals and
incorporated organizations names ad authors. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
2) The application names Jane Doe as
author of "words and music." The
work-made-for-hire question is
checked: "Yes." The application
will be accepted.
615.05 Name of author: separated or independent
works. Individual contributions embodied in
one unit may constitute separate and inde-
pendent works. In such cases. an application
is acceptable even if it accounts for only
one separate contribution. See section
flit:' 609.02 above.
Examples:
1) A published reproduction of a work of art
is deposited with an application. The
name of the author of the reproduction is
given. but the author of the original
painting is not named. The application
will be accepted.
2) An application Form TX claiming in
"poems" is received for a book of poems
containing substantial artwork; the
illustrator is not named on the appli-
cation. The Copyright Office will accept
the application as submitted on the
assumption that the contributions of the
poet and the illustrator are separate and
independent works.
[February 1988]
600-56
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.06 Name of author: collective work authorship.
A "collective work" is a work, such as a
periodical issue, anthology, or encyclopedia,
in which a number of contributions, consti-
tuting separate and independent works in
themselves, are assembled into a collective
whole. See 17 U.S.C. 101. Where a collec-
tive work is being registered, the applica-
tion should name the author of the collective
work. The names of the individual authors of
separate contributions being registered as
part of the claim need not be given on the
application. The registration may cover (a)
the collective work authorship, (b) any
contribution created by the employee or other
party commissioned by the author of a work
made for hire, and (c) any other contri-
butions that the claimant of the collective
work obtained by transfer.
615.07 Name of the author: form of name. If the
work is not anonymous or pseudonymous, the
author's full legal name should be given; the
Copyright Office will not communicate with
the applicant, however, if the author's full
name is not given. If a fuller form of the
author's name is given on the deposit mate-
rial, the Office may add that information to
the application by annotation. Where the
work is made for hire, the name of the
employer or other person for whom the work
was prepared must be given as author.
Stating the name of the employee or com-
missioned party on the application is
optional, but where it is included, his or
her status should be clearly indicated, for
example: "Freemont Enterprises, Inc.,
employer of L. B. Jeffries."
615.07(a) Name of author: when required. Gener-
ally, an application for a work that is
not anonymous or pseudonymous should give
the name of the author. See section
[February 1988]
600-57
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.07 Name of author: form of name. (cont'd)
615.07(a) Name of author: when required. (cont'd)
615.02 above. Where a derivative work is
being registered, the name of the author
of the derivative material should be
given. The name of the author of the
material on which the derivative work is
based is not required.
615.07(b) Name of author: omissions. Where the
application does not indicate that the
work is anonymous and omits the author's
name, and the name is not evident
anywhere in the registration materials,
the application will be questioned.
615.07(b)(1) Work by one author. Where an appli-
cation for a work by one author omits
the name of the author, but the
author's name appears elsewhere in
the registration materials, the
application will be annotated. It
should be noted that this practice
does not apply to anonymous or
pseudonymous works or to works made
for hire. See sections 615.01 and
615.02 above.
615.07(b)(2) Work by two or more authors. Where
an application for a work by more
than one author omits an author's
name, the application will ordinarily
be questioned, even though the
authors are named in other registra-
tion materials, unless the nature of
each author's contribution (included
in the claim) is evident.
615.07(b)(3) Work by a large number of authors.
If the work being registered was
created by a large number of authors,
the application will be considered
[February 1988]
600-58
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.07 Name of the author: form of name. (cont'd)
615.07(b) Name of author: omissions. (cont'd)
615.07(b)(3) Work by a large number of authors.
(cont'd)
acceptable if it names at least three
of those authors, followed by a
statement such as "and [number]
others." The Office prefers, how-
ever, that the application name all
authors, using as many continuation
sheets as necessary.
See sections 619.03 and 619.04 below.
Examples:
1) An application for a novel gives
as the nature of authorship
"Text." The name of the author
is not given and there is no
indication that the work is
anonymous or pseudonymous. The
copies of the work name Raymond
Cudloe as author. The Copyright
Office will annotate the appli-
cation and register the claim.
2) An application for a musical work
names "Samuel Smith" in the first
block as author of the words. In
the second block, the application
names no author, but gives the
author's contribution as "Music. "
The copies of the music state "By
Samuel Smith and John Franklin. "
The application will be
annotated.
[February 1988]
600-59
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.07 Name of the author: form of name. (cont'd)
615.07(b) Name of author: omissions. (cont'd)
615.07(b)(3) Work by a large number of authors.
(cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
3) An application Form VA is sub-
mitted naming two authors but
giving "sculptural bas-relief" as
a nature-of-authorship statement
for only one. The nature-of-
authorship statement for the
second author is blank. The
deposit consists of identifying
material for a drinking glass
containing sculptural authorship
separate and apart from the shape
of the glass. Because it is not
clear that the second author con-
tributed copyrightable author-
ship, the Copyright Office will
communicate with the applicant to
ascertain that author's contri-
bution.
4) A choreographic work is submitted
with an application naming as
authors three of 17 choreogra-
phers named as authors in the
credits of the motion picture
deposited to register the
choreographic work. After the
third author's name, the appli-
cation states: "and 14 others."
The application is acceptable.
615.07(c) Name of author: variances between appli-
cation and other registration material. Generally, authorship information on the
[February 1988]
600-60
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.07 Name of the author: form of name. (cont'd)
615.07(c) Name of author: variances between appli-
cation and other registration material.
(cont'd)
application and the deposit material
should be consistent, although strict
agreement is not required. Ordinarily,
the Copyright Office will communicate
with the applicant about variances only
where variances between the authorship
statement on the application and other
deposit material are substantially
inconsistent.
Examples:
1) Author on application: Joe Graziella;
author on copy: Joltin' Joe. The
application is acceptable.
2) Authors on application: Francis Keyes
and Sandra Booze; author on copy of
two-part manuscript of a textbook :
Part I by Francis Keyes. The appli-
cation is acceptable; the statement
on the copy does not purport to
account for the entire work.
3) Names of authors on application: Fig
Arrow and Cozy Phantuti. Audiovisual
work consists of booklet and film-
strip; script states "written by Cozy
Phantuti;" filmstrip names no author;
The Barber Company is named in the
notice of copyright on the filmstrip.
The application is acceptable, since
the law does not require that the
author be named on the copies or
phonorecords of the work. See also
section 626 below.
[February 1988]
600-61
8 615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.07 Name of the author: form of name. (cont'd)
615.07(c) Name of author: variances between appli-
cation and other registration material.
(cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
4) An application names Edward Jackson
as author. The copy of the published
novel names Edward Jackson and Joan
Jackson as authors, further describ-
ing Joan Jackson as the creator of
the layout of the book. Since the
creator of uncopyrightable material
should not be named, the application
is acceptable as submitted.
5) A phonorecord states: "Words by Sue
Smith and music by Mack Jones." The
application states: "Words and music
by Mack Jones. II There is no indica-
tion that the work is a derivative
work or that any part of the work was
made for hire. The Copyright Office
will communicate with the applicant.
615.07(d) Name of author: authorship not part of
claim. If an author’s name is omitted
from an application, and it is not clear
that the material contributed by that
author is included in the claim, the
application, if otherwise acceptable,
will not be questioned.
Examples:
1) An application names the author of a
novel. The novel names another indi-
vidual as illustrator. The Copyright
Office will not ask the applicant to
include the name of the illustrator
on the application.
[February 1988]
600-62
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.07 Name of the author: form of name. (cont'd)
615.07(d) Name of author: authorship not part of
claim. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
2) A unit of publication contains three
one-act plays by different authors.
From the title and the claimant
spaces on the application, it is
clear that the claim extends to only
one of the plays. The application
naming the author of that play is
acceptable.
3) An application is submitted for a
contribution to a collective work,
naming only the author of the con-
tribution. The application is
acceptable.
615.07(e) Name of author: authorship is insubstan-
tial. Where an author's name is omitted
tram an application and it appears likely
that the material contributed by that
author would constitute an insubstantial
part of the claim, the application, if
otherwise acceptable, will not be ques-
tioned.
Examples:
1) An application names "Arthur Aye,
author of words and music;" the lead
sheet states: "words and music by
Arthur Aye, arrangement by Grady
Bea." The arrangement consists of
registrable chord symbols. The
Copyright Office will not communicate
with the applicant for the name of
the arranger.
[February 1988]
600-63
615 Name of author. (cont’d)
615.07 Name of the author: form of name. (cont'd)
615.07(e) Name of author: authorship is insubtan-
tial (cont'd)
Examples: (cont’d)
2) An application names “Arthur Ayel” as
author of “music;” the form states:
““Music by Arthur Aye, arrangement by
Grady Bea.” The arrangement is a
substantial jazz band arrangement.
The Copyright Office may communicate
with the applicant for the name of
the arranger.
3) A sound recording is submitted with
an application Form SR naming only
some of the performers. The claim is
in "performance.” The application
will be accepted if the principal
performers appear to be named.
4) A sound recording is submitted with
an application Form SR naming only
one sound engineer. The claim is
"sound recording. " Other engineers
are named on the phonorecord. The
application will be accepted as
submitted.
5) An unpublished collection of twelve
musical selections, meeting the
common authorship requirements, names
four authors, one of whom co-authored
one song. The application omits that
author's name, although it names the
other authors and their contribu-
tions. The application will be
accepted.
[February 1988]
600-64
615 Name of author. (cont'd)
615.08 Name of author: when authorship is deter-
mined. For registration purposes, the author
is determined when the work is created. This
practice has particular implications for
works made for hire.
Example:
An application is submitted by a company
naming itself as the author and claimant.
An accompanying letter explains that this
company acquired the interest of a prede-
cessor company. The Copyright Office
will request that the author be named as
the organization for which the work was
created, even if that organization no
longer exists at the time the application
is submitted.
NOTE: Whether a "for-hire" relationship
exists is determined by the relevant facts at
the time of creation of the work. Ordinarily,
any written agreement establishing the "for-
hire" relationship must be executed on or
before the date of creation.
616 Dates of birth and death. The spaces on the
application designated for dates of birth and
death should be completed only if the contribu-
tion to the work is not made for hire. However,
if such information is given on the application
for a work made for hire, ordinarily the appli-
cation will not be questioned.
616.01 Date of birth. In cases where the author is
a natural person, a birth date may be useful
information as a form of identification, but
it is not required on the application. Ordi-
narily, the Copyright Office will not com-
municate with the applicant about a birth
date.
[February 1988]
600-65
616 Dates of birth and death. (cont'd)
616.02 Date of death. If one or more of the authors
is dead, the application should include the
date or dates of death. See 17 U.S.C.
409(2). Where the Copyright Office has
information that the author is deceased and
the year of the author's death is omitted
from the application, the application will be
questioned if this information may determine
the term of copyright. If the exact year of
death cannot be determined, the Office will
accept the applicant's best estimate, quali-
fied by "on or about," "approximately, for
the like.
617 Government works. The following are the
principles relating to the registrability of
government works.
617.01 United States Government works. Except for
the works dealt with in section 617.01(a)
below, an application will be questioned if
it names as author of a work the United
States Government, any of its agencies,
officers, or employees, in their official
capacity. Since works prepared by officers
or employees of the U.S. Government as part
of their official duties are not protected
under the U.S. copyright law, the Copyright
Office will refuse to make registration for
such material. See also section 206.02 of
Chapter 200: COPYRIGHTABLE MATTER -IN
GENERAL.
Examples:
1) Where the subject of the work is military
defense and the author is identified as a
Department of Defense employee, the claim
will be questioned even if the claimant
is a private publisher and the work was
privately printed.
[February 1988]
600-66
617 Government works. (cont'd)
617.01 United States Government works. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
2) Registration will not be refused for a
motion picture created by the employees
of a motion picture company even though
the film was financed by a U.S. Govern-
ment agency and the copyright transferred
to the agency.
3) Registration will not be refused for a
work written by a U.S. Government
official in his or her private capacity.
4) Registration will not be refused for a
work prepared by officers or employees of
the U.S. Postal Service since that
organization, as presently constituted,
is not considered to be a U.S. Government
agency. See section 106.02(b) of Chapter
200: COPYRIGHTABLE MATTER -IN GENERAL.
5) Registration will not be refused for a
work prepared by an officer or employee
of the Smithsonian Institution, if such
person was paid from the Smithsonian
trust fund.
617.01(a) United States Government works: Standard
Reference Data Act. The Copyright Office
can make registration under the Standard
Reference Data Act, 15 U.S.C. 290e, where
the Secretary of Commerce is named as
author or proprietor of any standard
reference data that the Secretary
prepares or makes available under that
Act.
[February 1988]
600-67
41 617 Government works. (cont'd)
617.01 United States Government works. (cont'd)
617.01 (a) United States Government works: Standard
Reference Data Act. (cont'd)
Example:
An application received for a work of
standard reference data names the
author as "The Secretary of Com-
merce," and is accompanied by a
letter indicating that the material
is submitted for registration under
the Standard Reference Data Act. The
Copyright Office will annotate the
application, "Claim authorized by
Standard Reference Data Act," key the
annotation to the authorship space,
and register the claim.
617.02 Government works: edicts of government. An
application we question if the claim
appears to extend to any edict of government,
such as judicial opinions, administrative
rulings, legislative enactments, public
ordinances, and similar legal documents,
whether Federal, State, local, or foreign,
since such materials are not copyrightable
for reasons of public policy. See also
section 206.01 of Chapter 200: COPYRIGHTABLE
MATTER- IN GENERAL.
Example:
Application is submitted for registration
of a work consisting entirely of a State
statute. Registration will be refused.
617.03 Government works: copyrightable government
works. Government works other than those
specified above as uncopyrightable are sub-
ject to registration if they are otherwise
[February 1988]
600-68
617 Government works. (cont'd)
617.03 Government works: copyrightable government
works. (cont'd)
copyrightable. See also section 206.03 of
Chapter 200: COPYRIGHTABLE MATTER -IN
GENERAL.
Examples:
1) Registration can be made for a magazine
for tourists published by the State of
Arizona and written by State employees.
2) A map of a U.S. city created by the
employees of the transportation
department of the city government is
registrable.
3) A publication of a foreign government
written by its employees which consists
of descriptions of the wines of the
country is registrable.
617.04 Government works: copyrightable elements combined with uncopyrightable government works. Registration can be made for works in which copyrightable elements are combined with
uncopyrightable government material, but the
claim cannot extend to the uncopyrightable
material. The application should give an
appropriate disclaimer or limitation of
claim.
Examples:
1) Registration can be made for an annotated
compilation of the statutes of a State
done by a private publishing firm, but
the claim cannot extend to the statutes
themselves.
[February 1988]
600-69
617 Government works. (cont'd)
617.04 Government works: copyrightable elements
combined with-uncopyrightable government
works. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
2) Registration may be made for a trans-
lation into English of the statutes of a
foreign country that are in a language
other than English. but the claim cannot
extend to the statutes themselves as
written in the original language.
618 Author's nationality or domicile. The appli-
cation should include the nationality or domicile
of the author regardless of whether the work is
anonymous or pseudonymous. by a natural person or
by some other legal entity. See 17 U.S.C. 409(2)
and (3). Where a work is created by more than
one author. the application should give the
nationality or domicile for at least one author.
However. where the nationality or domicile of the
author of an unpublished work is not given on the
application. the application will not be ques-
tioned. See 17 U.S.C. 104(a). Where a published
work is being registered. and the author's
nationality or domicile is not given. the appli-
cation will be questioned if. by reason of
national origin. the work does not appear to be
eligible for registration. See 17 U.S.C. 104(b).
See also Chapter 1100: ELIGIBILITY.
618.01 Author's nationality or domicile: corpo-
rations. Where the author is a corporation.
the country under the laws of which it was
created may be given as its "nationality."
Such an organization may give the country of
its principal place of business as its
domicile. See Chapter 1100: ELIGIBILITY. and
Chapter 200: COPYRIGHTABLE MATTER -IN
GENERAL. sections 205 and 206.
[February 1988]
600-70
618 Author's nationality or domicile. (cont'd)
618.02 Author's nationality or domicile: works
-blished under 1909 Copyright Act. With
respect to eligibility for registration,
works published before 1978 are governed by
the law in effect at the time of first
publication. Both citizenship and domicile
may be required to determine the eligibility
of such works. See the complete discussion
of this topic in Compendium I.
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. In general, the
nature of authorship defines the scope of the
registration; therefore, it represents an
important copyright fact.
619.01 Nature-of-authorship statement: location on
application. The nature-of-authorship
statement on an application should be given
at the block designated "Author of," or
"Nature of Authorship." In cases where the
nature of an author's contribution is indi-
cated elsewhere on the application, the
application will be accepted if the extent of
the claim is clear. See section 626.03(a)
below.
619.02 Nature of authorship: appropriate descrip-
tion. The nature-of-authorship statement is
a-brief general statement of the nature of
the author's contribution to the work. In
general, the author's contribution may be
described in terms of the categories speci-
fied in the copyright law, including: non-
dramatic literary work, musical work, musical
work with words, dramatic work, dramatic work
with music, pantomime, choreographic work,
pictorial, graphic, and sculptural work,
audiovisual work (including a motion
picture), or a sound recording. Other
acceptable descriptive terms are: computer
program, book, periodical, lecture, sermon,
map, work of art, reproduction of a work of
[February 1988]
600-71
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.02 Nature of authorship: appropriate descrip-
tion. (cont'd)
art, technical drawing, print, and label for
advertising. Where the Copyright Office can
ascertain the nature of authorship from a
physical description of the material object
in which the work is embodied, such
descriptions will be acceptable, e.g.,
newspaper, cartoon, model, globe, chart,
film, puppet, hologram. See Chapter 500:
COPYRIGHTABLE MATTER -PICTORIAL, GRAPHIC,
AND SCULPTURAL WORKS, Chapter 300: copy-
RIGHTABLE MATTER -NONDRAMATIC LITERARY
WORKS, and Chapter 400: COPYRIGHTABLE MATTER
-WORKS OF THE PERFORMING ARTS AND SOUND
RECORDINGS. Other appropriate descriptions
include –
Class VA: Class TX:
artwork collective work
cartographic work compilation
drawing data base
fabric design instructions
greeting card artwork magazine article
illustration novel
jewelry design poetry
lithography text
oil painting
photograph
reproduction of
work of art
sculpture
soft sculpture
technical drawing
[February 1988]
600-72
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619. 02 Nature of authorship: appropriate desrip-
tion. (cont’d)
Class PA Class PA
(In general): (Multimedia kits):
dance filmstrip
drama illustrations
instrumental music printed text
music and lyrics recorded text
play sounds
sermon workbook
song lyrics
Class PA (Motion pictures and motion picture
components):
cinematic work
cinematography
entire work
music
narration
screenplay
script
sound track
Class SR Class SR (Multi-
(In general): media kits without
a visual element):
performance performance
sound recording sound recording
sound recording text
engineering workbook
619.03 Nature of authorship: nonspecific description, such as
entire work, , is adequate to define the
nature of authorship in a new work. Where
more than one work is present in one deposit,
[February 1988]
600-73
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.03 Nature of authorship: nonspecific descrip-
tion. (cont'd)
a nonspecific authorship statement may be
acceptable if there is no evidence that the
claim does not extend to all elements. For
Form SR, the Copyright Office will consider
the claim to cover the underlying work, the
sound recording, and any other authorship in
the deposit. The application will be
annotated to indicate the content of the
deposit. No annotation will be made,
however, if the material-recorded statement
at space 1 specifically lists all elements in
the deposit, or space 1 correctly indicates
that the work recorded is wholly literary.
(A sound recording cannot be considered part
of the claim registered in any class other
than Class SR.)
Examples:
1) Form SR is submitted stating "Everything"
as the nature of the author's
contribution. The nature of the material
recorded is stated as "musical." The
phonorecord contains recorded words and
music. The Copyright Office will
register the claim with an annotation on
the application as follows: "Deposit
contains words, music, and sound
recording."
2) Work deposited is an educational film.
The nature-of-authorship statement for
each of its four authors is "Entire
work." In the absence of a conflict with
the film credits, the statement is
acceptable.
3) The work deposited is a pamphlet con-
taining text and illustrations and the
nature-of-authorship statement is given
[February 1988]
600-74
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.03 Nature of authorship: nonspecific descrip-
tion. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
3) (cont'd)
as: "Pamphlet." In the absence of a
conflict with any statements on the
deposit, the authorship statement is
acceptable.
619.03(a) Nonspecific description: derivative
works. The nature-of-authorship
statement for a derivative work or
compilation should describe more
specifically the kind of authorship on
which the claim being registered is
based. (See sections 615.06 above and
625 and 626 below.) For derivative works
other than motion pictures or sound
recordings, a description which is
limited to the statement "entire work" is
ordinarily not acceptable unless the
derivative-work space adequately defines
the claim. See section 619.10(b) below.
619.03(b) Nonspecific description: author’s contribution given at nature-of-work space. In general, if the description at the
nature-of-authorship space is insuffi-
cient to describe the claim, but state-
ments at the nature-of-work space des-
cribe the authorship in the deposit, the
application will be accepted.
Example:
A copy of a choreographic work is
submitted with an application Form
PA. One author is named on the
[February 1988]
600-75
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.03 Nature of authorship: nonspecific description. ( cont'd)
619.03(b) Nonspecific description: author's contribution given at nature-of-work space. (cont'd)
Example: (cont'd)
application, but the "Author of" space gives only the title of the work. The statement given in the nature-of-work space is "Choreography." The application will be accepted.
619.04 Nature-of-authorship statement: omitted. Where the nature of an author's contribution is omitted from the application, but the author's name is given, whether or not the application will be accepted will depend upon whether the extent of the claim is reasonably clear, and whether the nature of authorship is clearly identifiable from the deposit. Where the application contains no information about the nature of the authorship but the author's contribution is identifiable from the deposit, the Copyright Office will accept the application, annotating where appropriate.
Examples: (assume that the works are entirely new. )
1) A Form VA application is submitted for a two-dimensional original watercolor. The application names the author, but no nature-of-authorship statement is given. The nature-of-work statement is "Painting." The application will be accepted without annotation.
[February 1988]
600-76
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.04 Nature-of-authorship statement: omitted.
(cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
2) A Form PA is received with a radio broad-
cast script. Neither a nature-of-author-
ship statement nor a nature-of-work
statement is given. The deposit contains
the statement: "Script by John Doe." The
application will be annotated.
3) An application Form TX is submitted with
a game board, a map, and a computer
program. The application contains no
indication of the extent of the claim,
but Compuzese Company is named as author
of a work made for hire. The application
is acceptable on the assumption that the
company's employees contributed the
entire copyrightable content.
4) An application Form SR is submitted,
naming Jill Maddox as author, but giving
no description of her authorship. In the
nature-of-material-recorded space,
"Musical" is checked. The phonorecord
contains a musical composition consisting
of words and music. The Copyright Office
will communicate with the applicant to
determine whether the claim is in the
musical composition, the sound recording,
or both.
619.04(a) Nature-of-authorship statement omitted:
multiple authors. The application should
give a specific nature-of-authorship
statement for each author contributing
copyrightable material to the work being
[February 1988]
600-77
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.04 Nature-of-authorship statement: omitted.
(cont'd)
619.04(a) Nature-of-authorship statement omitted:
multiple authors. (cont'd)
registered. But where the nature-of-authorship statement is not given, the application will be acceptable if copyrightable authorship on the part of all authors is evident, even though specific authorship information is not given in other registration materials. See section 615.08 above.
Examples:
1) A TX application naming A and B as authors gives A's contribution as "poems." No nature-of-authorship statement is given for B; and there is no indication that the work is not entirely new. The copy of the book states: "Poems by A & B." The application is acceptable without annotation.
2) A book of children's stories is submitted with an application Form TX. The title is "Nippy, and Other Children's Stories by Mary and Martha Hill." There is no indication that the work is not entirely new. The application names the authors but gives no nature-of-authorship statements. The application will be accepted as submitted.
- A cassette of children's stories is submitted on Form SR. The title is "Nippy and Other Children's Stories." Mary and Martha Hill are named as
[February 1988]
600-78
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.04 Nature-of-authorship statement: omitted. (cont'd)
619.04.(a) Nature-of-authorship statement omitted:
multiple authors. cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
3) (cont'd)
authors, but no nature-of-authorship statements are given. The application will be questioned.
An application Form TX names A and B as authors. No nature-of-authorship statements are given. The copy, a book of poetry, states: "By A & B." The application is acceptable without annotation.
5) A Form PA is submitted for a motion picture treatment. The copy states: "Treatment by A, Concept by B." The application names A and B without indicating the nature of the authorship. The application will be questioned.
619.05 Nature of authorship: percentage. Where a description of the nature of authorship is accompanied by statements apportioning contributions between coauthors, an application will generally be accepted.
Example:
The application states the authors' contributions: "Words and music by Joe Goldie (50 percent); words and music by Pepe Greenwald (50 percent)." The application will be accepted. However, see section 622.14 below.
[February 1988]
600-79
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.06 Nature of authorship: claim in unregistrable mater a. The nature-of-authorship statement on the application should describe only the registrable matter. Where the author's contribution is described solely in terms of uncopyrightable matter, and the claim appears to be limited to that material, the Copyright Office will refuse to register the claim.
Examples:
1) The application names a single author of "typeface, format, and book design." The Copyright Office will refuse to register the claim. See 37 C.F.R. 202.1(a).
2) The application names two individuals as authors of a work designated as "shape of trousers." The deposit is a photograph of the trousers. Because the work sought to be registered is a utilitarian object having no separable pictorial, graphic, or sculptural authorship, the Copyright Office will refuse to register the claim. See the definition of "Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works" in 17
U.S.C. 101.
619.06(a) Claim in unregistrable material: deposit contains registrable matter. Where the author's contribution, as described, is uncopyrightable, but it appears that the author may have contributed copyrightable material, the Copyright Office will request a new application that appropriately describes the author's contribution.
Examples:
1 ) An application Form TX describes the author's contribution as "Story idea." The deposit is a novel. The
[February 1988]
600-80
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.06 Nature of authorship: claim in unregistrable
material. (cont'd)
619.06(a) Claim in unregistrable material: deposit
contains registrable matter. (cont’d)
Examples: (cont'd)
1) (cont'd)
Copyright Office will communicate
with the applicant, stating that a
claim cannot be registered in a
"story idea" and suggesting that if
the author contributed literary
material, a new application should be
submitted describing the author's
contribution in those terms. See
Chapter 300: COPYRIGHTABLE MATTER -
NONDRAMATIC LITERARY WORKS.
2) An application Form PA gives an
author's contribution as "New process
for suturing." The deposit is a
videotape which depicts a doctor
performing surgery with voice-over
commentary. The Copyright Office
will communicate with the applicant,
explain that processes are not
copyrightable under 17 U.S.C. 102(b),
and suggest that the applicant submit
a new application to register the
narration, the cinematography, or
both. If the applicant is not
entitled to, or does not wish to
register the copyrightable material,
no claim will be registered.
619.06(b) Claim in unregistrable material: combined with claim in registrable matter. Where
an author's contribution, as described,
consists of copyrightable material as
[February 1988]
600-81
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.06 Nature of authorship: claim in unregistrable material. (cont'd)
619.06(b) Claim in unregistrable material: combined with claim in registrable matter. (cont'd)
well as material that the statute or regulations specifically state is not within the subject matter of copyright, the Copyright Office will register the claim and refer by annotation to the applicable statute or regulation.
Examples:
1) The nature-of-authorship statement, describing a single author's contribution, reads "Idea and drawing." The deposit is pen and ink drawing. The application will be annotated: "Ideas not copyrightable. 17 U.S.C.
102(b). "
2) The nature-of-authorship statement describes a single author's contribution as "Sound recording and name
of performing group." The Copyright Office will annotate the application stating "Names not copyrightable. 37 C.F.R. 202.1."
619.06(c) Claim in unregistrable matter: author's sole contribution. In cases where an author's sole contribution is unregistrable matter, an application naming that person as author of the unregistrable contribution will not be accepted, even if another author has contributed copyrightable matter.
[February 1988]
600-82
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.06 Nature of authorship: claim in unregistrable
material. (cont'd)
619.06(c) Claim in unregistrable matter: author’s
sole contribution. (cont’d)
Example:
An application names Susan Oakes as
author of a "Novel" and John Oakes as
contributor of "Title of novel." The
Copyright Office will request a new
application omitting reference to
John Oakes, if the title is his sole
contribution.
619.06(d) Claim in Unregistrable matter: de minimis
material. Where the Copyright Office
determines that the author's contribution
is de minimis, it will refuse to register
the claim.
Example:
An application names the author of ;
song lyrics; the deposit consists of
three words: " I love you. " The Copy-
right Office will refuse to register
the claim.
619.06(e) Unregistrable matter: claim covers both
de minimis and registrable matter. The
following practices relate to claims
intended to cover both de minimis and
registrable material.
619.06(e)(1) De minimis and registrable matter:
general practice Where the nature-
of-authorship statement on an appli-
cation describes both de minimis and
registrable material, the Copyright
Office will request a new application
that omits reference to the de
minimis material.
[February 1988]
600-83
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.06 Nature of authorship: claim in unregistrable material. (cont'd)
619.06(e) Unregistrable matter: claim covers both
de minimis and registrable matter. (cont'd)
619.06(e)(2) De minimis and registrable material. Where a work contains de minimis material in one category of authorship but registrable material in another category, the Copyright Office will refuse to register a
claim specifically in the de minimis element. Generally, the Office will request a new application describing only the registrable material.
Example:
The nature-of-authorship statement names A as author of "words and music." The only words contained in the deposit are "I Love You," repeated several times. The Copyright Office will request a new application omitting reference to "words."
619.06(e)(3) De minimis and registrable material: unitary work. Where the nature-of-authorship statement gives: "Entire work," and the copy contains both de minimis text and copyrightable material by one author, the application will be accepted on the basis of the copyrightable content of the work.
[February 1988]
600-84
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.06 Nature of authorship: claim in unregistrable
material. (cont'd)
619.06(e) Unregistrable matter: claim covers both
de minimis and registrable matter.
(cont'd)
619.06(e)(3) De minimis and registrable material:
unitary work. (cont'd)
Example:
An application names Shirley
Wonder as author of "Entire
work." The deposit is a greeting
card depicting a Panda and con-
taining the words "FONZ helps
UNESCO. Won't you?" The Copy-
right Office will accept the
application as submitted.
619.07 Nature-of-authorship statement at variance
with statement on deposit. In general, where
there is an unexplained variance between the
nature-of-authorship statement and statements
made on the deposit material, the Copyright
Office will generally communicate with the
applicant.
Examples:
1) The application for a musical composition
names Alfred Archway as author of words
and Bob Barter as author of "music." The
copy states: "Words by Bob Barter and
music by Alfred Archway." The Copyright
Office will communicate with the appli-
cant.
2) The application names Alfred Archway as
author of music in a work made for hire,
and also author of the words, not made
[February 1988]
600-85
619 Nature-of-authorship-statement. (cont'd)
619.07 Nature-of-authorship statement at variance with statement on deposit. (cont’d)
Examples: (cont'd)
2) (cont'd)
for hire. The phonorecord states: "By
Alfred Archway and Bob Barter." The
Copyright Office will accept the appli
cation on the assumption that Bob Barter
is the employee for hire of Alfred Archway.
619.08 Nature-of-authorship statement at variance with deposit. In general, where the application describes the author’s contribution as including material not present in the deposit, the Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
Examples:
1) The application gives the nature of
authorship as literary material and
artwork. The deposit consists only of
text. The Copyright Office will ask the
applicant to submit the missing material
or to amend the application.
2) The application gives the nature-of-
authorship statement as audiovisual work;
the deposit is a literary work explaining
how to make filmstrips. The Copyright Office will communicate with the appli-
cant, unless the registration materials
indicate that the material in the deposit
is all that the applicant intends to
register. In that case, the Copyright
Office will annotate the application.
[February 1988]
600-86
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.08 Nature-of-authorship statement at variance
with deposit. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
3) The application gives the nature of the
authorship as a motion picture; the
applicant explains in an accompanying
letter that he plans a motion picture for
the future, but that only a short synop-
sis is completed. The synopsis is
deposited. The Copyright Office will
annotate the application.
619.08(a) Variances with deposit material: more
material present than claimed. Where the
deposit material contains more authorship
than is claimed on the application, the
Copyright Office will ordinarily register
the claim as submitted, without
annotation. If, however, the work is by
one author and the deposit contains a
specific statement crediting that author
with all elements, the application will be annotated to reflect the authorship statement on the deposit. Where the
application names only one person as
author of one element and the deposit
names another person as both co-author of
that element and as sole author of a
second element, the Office will
communicate with the applicant to
determine the extent of the claim.
Examples:
1) A musical composition consisting of
words and music is deposited with an
application naming only the author of
the music. The words are not
otherwise accounted for on the
application. The Copyright Office
will accept the application as
submitted.
[February 1988]
600-87
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.08 Nature-of-authorship statement at variance with deposit. (cont'd)
619.08(a) Variances with deposit material: more material present than claimed. (cont’d)
Examples: (cont'd)
2) An application names John Doe as author of "music." The deposit contains words and music and states "Words and Music by John Doe." The Copyright Office will register the claim with an annotation on the application reflecting the authorship statement given on the deposit.
3) A musical composition consisting of words and music is deposited with an application naming only John Doe as author of "words." The deposit names John Doe and Mary Smith as co-authors of words and Mary Smith as author of music. The Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant to determine the extent of the claim.
4) An application for a literary work is submitted claiming only "Text." The deposit also contains a few pictorial illustrations. The Copyright Office will register the claim as submitted.
619.09 Nature-of-authorship statement: unclear. Where the nature-of-authorship statement does not describe the registrable material in the deposit, the Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
[February 1988]
600-88
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.09 Nature-of-authorship statement: unclear.
(cont'd)
Examples:
1) An application for an historical novel
gives the nature-of-authorship statement
as "Facts." The Copyright Office will
communicate with the applicant for
clarification of the author's contri-
bution.
2) A Form VA describes the author's contri-
bution as "Structure." The deposit is an
architectural blueprint. The Copyright
Office will ask the applicant to clarify
the description by stating "Technical
drawing," or the like, if applicable.
3) An applicant describes the author's con-
tribution as "Game" in a work consisting
of audiovisual pictorial images and
sounds. The Copyright Office will
request that the applicant describe the
author's contribution as "Audiovisual
work."
619.09(a) Nature-of-authorship statements: clari-
fied by reference to deposit. Where the
nature-of-authorship statement is unclear
but can be determined by reference to the
deposit or other registration materials,
the Copyright Office may annotate the
application, or it may register the claim
without annotation.
Examples:
1) A nature-of-authorship statement on
Form SR describes a claim in "Pro-
duction." The deposit is a phono-
record. The Copyright Office will
[February 1988]
600-89
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.09 Nature-of-authorship statement: unclear. (cont'd)
619.09(b) Nature-of-authorship statements: not clarified by reference to deposit.
Examples: (cont'd)
1 ) (cont'd)
register the claim, if the author appears to have produced the sound recording.
2) A nature-of-authorship statement describes the author's contribution as "Conceived play." The deposit is a drama. The Copyright Office will register the claim, if the author named apparently wrote the play.
619.09(b) Nature-of-authorship statements: not clarified by reference to deposit. Where the nature of authorship is unclear when compared with the deposit material, the Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant. If the scope of the claim, however, is reasonably clear, the application will be accepted as submitted.
Examples:
1) A Form TX is submitted with a phonorecord. The nature-of-authorship statement is given as "Literary work." The Copyright Office will accept the application if the phonorecord contains literary material, and will not ask the applicant whether a claim in sound recording is intended.
[February 1988]
600-90
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.10 Nature-of-authorship statement: derivative
works. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
2) Form TX is submitted for a book
jacket containing copyrightable text
and de minimis artwork. The author's
contribution is stated as "Design."
The Copyright Office will request
from the applicant a clear statement
of authorship.
3) An application Form VA is submitted
with a photograph of a flower. The
nature-of-authorship statement is
stated as "Photosynthesis." The
Copyright Office will communicate
with the applicant.
619.10 Nature-of-authorship statements: derivative
works. Where the work being registered
incorporates material that has been pre-
viously registered. previously published. or
is in the public domain. the nature-of-
authorship statement on the application
should describe the new copyrightable
material in which copyright is claimed.
Where the nature-of-authorship statement
describes only the preexisting material. the
Copyright Office will communicate with the
applicant.
Example:
The application names an author and
states "Original oil painting" in the
nature-of-authorship space. At the
material-added space. "Art reproduction"
is given. The deposit is a lithographic
reproduction. The Copyright Office will
[February 1988]
600-91
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.10 Nature-of-authorship statement: derivative works. (cont'd)
Example: (cont'd)
ask the applicant to describe the authorship in the lithographic reproduction at the "Author of" space and to name the author if different from the author of the oil painting. See sections 615.01
and 615.09 above.
619.10(a) Nature-of-authorship statement: appropriate description of derivative works. Because the registration will cover only part of the material contained in a derivative work, the nature of the author’s contribution for such works must be made clear. In general, it is not sufficient to give the author’s contribution simply as “derivative work” unless the statement in the nature-of the work space or the material-added space clearly and comprehensively describes the new material.
Example:
An application states at the nature
of-authorship space "Derivative material." and at the material-added space "Musical arrangement." The deposit is apparently a new arrangement of an old folk song. The application is acceptable.
619.10(b) Nature-of-authorship statement: same author of preexisting and derivative material. Where the author of the
preexisting material and the derivative work appears to be the same. and the nature-of-authorship statement on the
[February 1988]
600-92
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.10 Nature-of-authorship statement: derivative
works. (cont'd)
619.10(b) Nature-of-authorship statement: same
author of preexisting and derivative
material. (cont'd)
application is broad enough to encompass
both the preexisting and new material,
the Copyright Office will register the
claim.
Examples:
1) The nature-of-authorship statement on
an application for a musical composi-
tion consisting of words, music, and
arrangement names a single author
whose contribution is "Entire work;"
the material-added statement notes
"New arrangement. II The Copyright
Office will register the claim.
2) An application Form VA describes the
authorship as "advertisement." The 'I
material-added statement is: "Addi-
tional artwork." The application
will be accepted.
3) An application Form TX is submitted
giving no nature-of-authorship state-
ment. The material-added statement
is: "Revisions throughout." In the
absence of a contradictory statement
of authorship on the deposit, the
application is acceptable.
619.11 Nature-of-authorship statements: compilations. Generally, where the claim consists principally or solely of compilation authorship, the nature-of-authorship statement should include “Compilation,” or a comparable
[February 1988]
600-93
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.11 Nature-of-authorship statements: compilations. (cont’d)
statement, such as "Selection," or "Arrangement." Where the application does not clearly describe the authorship as "compilation" or an acceptable alternative, and no other basis of claim is apparent, the Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
Examples:
1) The applicant submits a series of public domain charts with answer sheets. The application does not describe the nature of authorship. The Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
2) An application Form TX describes the authorship as "Entire work." The deposit is a data base. The Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant to determine the basis of the claim.
619.11(a) Nature-of-authorship statements: collective works. Where a collective work is being registered, the compilation and other authorship included in the claim need not be stated with particularity; and statement that the work is a collective work is sufficient to cover the work as a whole, including elements of compilation, revision, editing, arrangement, and any other material prepared by employees of the author as contributions to the collective work. Wee also section 626 below.
[February 1988]
600-94
619 Nature-of-authorship statement. (cont'd)
619.11 Nature-of-authorship statements: compila-
tions. (cont'd)
619.11(a) Nature-of-authorship statements: col-
lective works. (cont'd)
Example:
Application for a magazine is submit-
ted on Form SE with the "collective
work" box checked. The application
will be accepted.
620 Date of creation. The application shall include
the year in which the work was created. See 17
U.S.C. 409(7). A work is considered "created"
when it is fixed by or under the authority of the
author for the first time. Where a work has been
prepared over a period of time, the part of the
work existing in fixed form on a particular date
constitutes the created work on that date. See
37 C.F.R. 202.3(b)(3)(ii). Where the year of
creation is omitted, the Copyright Office will
communicate with the applicant for the missing
information. Where the applicant cannot deter-
mine the exact year of creation, qualifying
language is permitted, such as "approximately,"
"on or about," or "on or before."
620.01 Date of creation: creation over a period of time. Where a work is prepared over a period
of time, the portion of it that has been
fixed at any particular time constitutes the
work as of that time. See 17 U.S.C. 101.
Where a single version is being registered,
the application should give as the year of
creation the latest year when copyrightable
material was added to the version being
registered. If multiple dates are listed,
however, the Copyright Office will register
the claim as submitted.
[February 1988]
600-95
620 Date of creation. (cont'd)
620.02 Date of creation: multiple versions of a work. Where a work has been prepared in different versions, each version constitutes a separate work. See 17 U.S.C. 101. Where different versions of a work are being registered separately, each application should give the year of creation for the particular version being registered. Where it appears that the application does not give the year of creation for that version, the Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant. See section 610 above.
Example:
The application for a derivative work gives 1972 as the year of creation and the year of previous registration. The publication date is January 1, 1978, and there are two notices on the copies: "0 1972 Miller Music," followed by "Musical Arrangement 0 1978 by John Dee Music." The derivative claim is based on a new arrangement. The Copyright Office will ask the applicant whether the year of creation refers to the new arrangement.
620.02(a) Date of creation: multiple dates, with single registration of multiple versions of a work. In cases where several versions of a work are being registered together, the applicant should give the date of creation of the latest version. However, if the applicant gives the date of creation of each version, the application will be accepted. See also section 610 above.
620.03 Date of creation: apparently incorrect. Where the date of creation is inconsistent with other dates appearing on the application or the deposit, the Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
[February 1988]
600-96
620 Date of creation. (cont'd)
620.03 Date of creation: apparently incorrect. (cont'd)
Examples:
1) An application states that the author died in 1980, but gives the year of creation as 1982. The Copyright Office will ask the applicant if this information is correct, and if so, to explain the circumstances.
2) An application gives the date of publication as 1979. The year of creation is given as 1982. The Copyright Office will ask the applicant to review the information and correct the publication or creation date.
621 Publication. The application for copyright registration shall include, in the case of published works, the date and nation of first publication. See 17 U.S.C. 409(8). For the definition of publication under the current law, see 17 U.S.C. 101. For practices concerning publication under the current Act, see Chapter 900: PUBLICATION. For practices regarding publication under the 1909 Copyright Act, as amended, see Compendium I.
621.01 No publication information given. Usually, where an application gives no date or place of publication, the Copyright Office will register the claim as unpublished without question. Where, however, the deposit or registration materials suggest that publication information was omitted from the application by mistake or misunderstanding, the Office will communicate with the applicant before registering the claim. To correct the registration records for a work
[February 1988]
600-97
621.01 Publication. (cont'd)
621 No publication information given. (cont'd)
erroneously registered as unpublished, a supplementary registration generally cannot be made. Instead, the applicant must make a new basic registration and submit the appropriate deposit. See section 621 above, and Chapter 1500: CORRECTIONS AND AMPLIFICATIONS OF COPYRIGHT OFFICE RECORDS; SUPPLEMENTARY REGISTRATIONS. Although an application may give no date of publication, the Copyright Office may question whether publication has occurred in cases such as the following. If the applicant satisfactorily explains the statement causing the question to arise, the Office will register the claim as submitted, except in Examples 5, 6, and 7 below.
Examples:
1) A periodical issue is deposited, giving a date that has passed.
2) A photograph is deposited along with an advertising catalog in which the photograph is offered for sale.
3) A musical score is deposited bearing the stamped legend: "For rental only."
4) Two copies of commercially produced sheet music are deposited by a publishing company.
5) Motion pictures are deposited for episodes of a television series known to be in syndication.
6) A 45-rpm disc phonorecord states: "From the album. . .," and the Copyright Office is aware that the album has been advertised in trade magazines.
[February 1988]
621
600-98
621 Publication. (cont'd)
621.01 No publication information given. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
7) A novel is known to be listed in trade publications on a Best Seller list.
621.01(a) No publication information given: possible eligibility problem if published. Where the Copyright Office questions whether publication has occurred, its letter will point out the possible consequences of publication if the Office is aware that the work may be unregistrable when published.
Examples:
1) An application submitted in 1984 contains no date of publication and gives the date of creation as 1978. Two copies of a commercially produced book are deposited by a publishing company bearing a 1978 imprint. The copies contain no notice of copyright. The Copyright Office will point out that the work may not be registrable if it was published in 1978.
2) The application names citizens of Iran as authors. The deposit copy states "Prepared in Iran and published under the auspices of the Iranian Government." The application was submitted in 1983. The Copyright Office, in questioning publication, will point out that a work by an Iranian citizen might not be eligible for registration if first published in Iran.
[February 1988]
600-99
621 Publication. (cont'd)
621 .01 No publication information given. (cont'd)
621.01(b) Publication information given: statement by applicant. Where the application contains a statement that work is unpublished, (such as, "Unpublished," "N/A," or "No" in the publication block), the Copyright Office will consider it less likely that the applicant overlooked the question of publication. Applicants making registrations of commercially
prepared material in unpublished form may send a letter to this effect to the Copyright Office. In these cases, the Office will generally not inquire whether publication has occurred.
612.01(c) No publication information given: restrictive legends. Where the application contains no ate of publication and the deposit contains a restrictive legend, such as "Use of the material is strictly controlled," or where the applicant asserts that the deposit contains trade secret material, the Copyright Office will not ordinarily question whether publication has occurred.
621.02 Publication information given. In general, the Copyright Office will not question an assertion of publication unless statements on the application or other deposit materials clearly suggest that the work has not been published. Although the publication block on the application contains a date and place of publication, the Office may question whether publication has in fact occurred in cases such as the following:
1) Where the application states: "performed" or "broadcast."
[February 1988]
600-100
621 Publication. (cont'd)
621.02 Publication information given. (cont'd)
2) Where one homemade cassette is submitted
for a work for which the appropriate
deposit is two phonorecords.
- Where handwritten copies are deposited.
4) Where letter accompanying the deposit
states that the date given is the date
the material was printed, and that the
applicant is waiting to get his certi-
ficate before distributing copies.
5) Where an application for an original
painting states in the publication block:
"Public exhibition date: April 1, 1981."
621.03 Publication: extraneous statements on application. The date of publication should be
given on an application without any quali-
fying statements. However, the Copyright
Office will accept the application without
correspondence if the information given is
not inconsistent with other information on
the application or other registration mate-
rials.
Examples:
1) An application states: "Televised," in
the publication block and gives no date
or place of publication. The application
is acceptable for registration in unpub-
lished form.
2) An application form for a motion picture
states in the publication space: "Re-
leased December 3, 1982." The applica-
tion is acceptable.
[February 1988]
600-101
621 Publication. (cont'd)
621.04 Publication: place of publication given without date. Where the application gives a place of publication without a date, the entire application, deposit, and correspondence will be considered in deciding whether to communicate with the applicant to ascertain whether publication has occurred.
621.05 Publication: complete date of publication.
The application should give the exact month,
day, and year when publication first occur
red. Where one of these elements is omitted,
the Copyright Office will communicate with
the applicant.
Example:
An application gives the date of publi-
cation as "January, 1980." The Copyright
Office will ask the applicant to provide
the precise date of publication.
621.05 (a) Complete date of publication: exact date unknown. In cases where the applicant cannot determine the exact date of first publication, the date may be qualified by “approximately,” “not later than,” “not before,” or the like; in any case, it is preferable that the applicant give one specific date of publication without qualifying language.
621.06 Publication: more than one date given. In
general, the applicant should give only one
date of publication -- the date publication
first occurred. Where more than one date of
publication is given, the Copyright Office
will communicate with the applicant to ascer
tain the date of first publication for the work being registered.
[February 1988]
600-102
621 Publication. (cont'd)
621.07 Publication: errors and inconsistencies in
date of publication. Occasionally, the
application may give a date of publication
that does not exist or that is impossible in
light of other registration information. In
such cases, the Copyright Office will com-
municate with the applicant.
Examples:
1) The date of publication given on the
application is February 30, 1982.
2) The date of publication is earlier than
the date of the author's birth.
621.08 Publication: nation of first publication
omitted. Where a work has been published,
the application should give the nation of
first publication. However, if the nation of
first publication is omitted and only the
place of first publication will provide a
basis for the claim's eligibility for regis-
tration, and the place of publication is not
given elsewhere in the registration mate-
rials, the Copyright Office will communicate
with the applicant. Where the registration
materials state a basis for eligibility other
than the nation of first publication, an
application giving no nation of publication
will be accepted.
Examples:
1) An application, giving no place of
publication, states that the author is
domiciled in the United States. The date
of publication is given as September 1,
1983. Two copies are deposited. The
application is acceptable.
[February 1988]
600-103
621 Publication. (cont'd)
621.08 Publication: nation of first publication omitted. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
2) An application giving no nation of publication states that the author is a citizen and domiciliary of Nepal. Two copies are deposited. The Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
621.09 Publication: identification of nation of first publication. The name of the nation of first publication should generally be given and must be given if the work is eligible only on the basis of the nation of first publication. Where the nation of first publication is identified on the application in terms other than its formal name, but the country is clearly identified by that name, the Copyright Office will consider that name acceptable to identify that country. See Chapter 1100: ELIGIBILITY.
Example:
An application gives a date of first
publication and states that the work was published in Wales. The application is acceptable, even though the preferable name would be the United Kingdom.
621 .10 Publication: first published in different countries on the same day. If first publication took place in the United States and one or more other countries on the same day, the applicant should state "USA" as the place of first publication. See Chapter 900: PUBLICATION. Although it is preferable for the application to give only one country, an application for an eligible work giving two or more countries will be accepted.
[February 1988]
600-104
622 Claimant: defined. For purposes of registration,
a copyright claimant is either (1) the author of
a work; or (2) a person or organization that has
obtained ownership of all United States rights
which initially belonged to the author under the
United States copyright law. This latter cate-
gory includes a person or organization that has
obtained, from the author or from an entity that
has obtained ownership of all rights under the
copyright, the contractual right to claim legal
title to the copyright in an application for
copyright registration. See 37 C.F.R. 202.3(a)
(3). With respect to unpublished works and works
first published on or after January 1, 1978, the
application should name the claimant or claimants
as of the time the application is filed. NOTE:
For works first published before 1978, see
Compendium I, Chapter 4, Section 4.2.3.
622.01 Name of claimant: required, with address.
The application for registration shall
include the name and address of the copyright
claimant. See 17 U.S.C. 409(1). Where the
claimant's name is not given, the Copyright
Office will communicate with the applicant.
Generally, where the claimant's address is
.not given, the return or correspondence
address will suffice. In any case where
neither the claimant's address nor a satis-
factory substitute is given in the registra-
tion materials, the Office will attempt to
communicate with the applicant by telephone.
If the applicant cannot be reached, but the
application is otherwise acceptable, regis-
tration will be completed even though the
certificate may not be mailed.
622.02 Claimant: variance between claimant on application and name in notice of copyright. With respect to works first published on or after
January 1, 1978, the name of the claimant
given on the application should be either the
name of the owner of all United States rights
[February 1988]
600-105
622 Claimant: defined. (cont'd)
622.02 Claimant: variance between claimant on application and name in notice of copyright. (cont’d)
on the date the application is filed, or the author. Ordinarily, the Copyright Office will not communicate with the applicant because the name given in the notice of
copyright for a work published on or after
January 1, 1978, differs from the name of the claimant on the application. The Office will communicate about such a variance, however, if such work was published before 1978.
Examples:
1) An application for an unpublished work
names Patrick Mink as author and claimant. The copy contains a notice of copyright stating: “Ó 1983 Mark Music Company." The application is acceptable.
2) An application for registration of a published work is submitted. The copies contain a notice of copyright stating:“Ó 1983 Excelsior Music Company." The application names "Frank Music Company" as claimant. The application is acceptable.
622.03 Claimant: abbreviated names at the claimant space. The application should give the
claimant’s full legal name. However, an application will be accepted with an abbreviated version of the claimant's name if there is no doubt whether that name could identify the claimant to the public. On the other hand, an application designating the claimant solely by his or her surname ordinarily will be questioned. In any case,
[February 1988]
600-106
622 Claimant: defined. (cont'd)
622.03 Claimant: abbreviated names at the claimant (cont'd)
where the name designating the claimant on
the application does not sufficiently iden-
tify the claimant but other registration
materials clarify his or her identity, the
Copyright Office will add this information to
the application.
Examples:
1) An application names "Sonny" Bell and
"Scooter" McCall as co-claimants. The
application is acceptable.
2) An application names "Mr. Bell and Mrs.
McCall," as claimants. The registration
materials do not contain any information
concerning the given name of the claim-
ant. The application will be questioned.
3) An application gives "Mr. T" as the name
of the claimant. An accompanying letter
states that the claimant's full name is
Terry Thompson Tipley. The Copyright
Office will annotate the application to
give the claimant's full name.
622.03(a) Abbreviated names: initials at the claim-
ant space. If the identity of the claim-
ant is known to the public by certain
initials, an application will be accept-
able giving those initials as the name of
the claimant. Where the initials do not
so identify the claimant, the Copyright
Office will request a new application
giving the claimant's legal name.
[February 1988]
600-107
622 Claimant: defined. (cont'd)
622.03 Claimant: abbreviated names at the claimant
space. (cont'd)
622.03(a) Abbreviated names: initials at the claim-
ant space. (cont'd)
Examples:
1) An application submitted by General
Motors gives the claimant's name as
"GM." The application is acceptable.
2) An application naming the claimant as
"FIG" is accompanied by a transmittal
letter stating that the initials
designate the name "Fruit Is Good
Company," and that the initials are a
proposed name change for a company
now doing business under the name
"Fantastic Fruit Company." The
Copyright Office will ask the
applicant whether "FIG" currently
identifies the claimant to the
public.
622.04 Claimant: pseudonym at claimant space. The
application should give the claimant's full
legal name. Where a pseudonym is given.
however. the Copyright Office will not
question the applicant in the absence of
information that the claimant's pseudonym
does not identify him or her to the public.
622.05 Claimant: alternative claimants at the
claimant space. The claimant should be
identified clearly. Therefore, where
alternative claimants are given disjunc-
tively, the Copyright Office will communicate
with the applicant.
Examples (unacceptable):
1) "John or Mary Doe"
2) "John Doe and/or Mary Doe"
[February 1988]
60.0-108
622 Claimant: defined. (cont'd)
622.05 Claimant: alternative claimants at the claimant space. (cont'd)
Examples (acceptable):
- "John Doe - Mary Doe"
- "Foster Music/Dear Music"
3)"Stiller/Hyson Graphics"
622.06 Claimant: future and contingent interests. Persons or organizations with a future interest in the copyright or those who may obtain ownership of the copyright upon a contingency should not be named as claimants. The following are examples of unacceptable statements at the claimant space.
1) "John Doe, or, upon his death, Mary Doe"
2) "John Doe, and after ten years, Sam Doe"
3) "John Doe, or if she survives, Mary Doe"
4) "John Doe Company or, should its
corporate headquarters move to Iowa, Howard Doe Company."
622.07 Claimant: corporation sole and claimant space. Where an individual is a copyright claimant in his or her capacity as a corporation sole, and that legal status is indicated on the application, the application will be accepted. Even where successors are mentioned, a corporation sole is considered to designate one entry.
NOTE: A corporation sole is defined as a corporation consisting of one person only, and his or her successors in some particular office incorporated by law in order to give
[February 1988]
600-109
622 Claimant: defined. (cont'd)
622.07 Claimant: corporation sole at claimant space.
(cont'd)
each of them in succession some legal capa-
city and advantages, particularly that of
perpetuity, which as natural persons they
could not have.
Examples:
1) The claimant space states: "John Doe, a
corporation sole."
2) The claimant space states: "John Doe and
his successors, a corporation sole."
622.08 Claimant: legal and equitable owners at
Claimant space. Where trustee holds
copyright property, the name of the trustee,
as the legal owner, should be given at the
claimant space. However, an application
giving either the names of only the equitable
owners of the copyright, or the names of
equitable and legal owners together will be
accepted.
Example:
Riggins National Bank holds in trust the
copyright in a motion picture screenplay
whose equitable owners are investors in a
motion picture venture. The application
for the screenplay names "Riggins
National Bank, Trustee" as sole claimant.
The application is acceptable.
622.09 Claimant: incorporation of claimant’s name by reference as a rule, the claimant should be
identified on the face of the application
without reference to other records. Where
the claimant can be identified only by
reference to a source outside the registra-
tion materials, the Copyright Office will
communicate with the applicant.
[February 1988]
600-110
622 Claimant: defined. (cont'd)
622.09 Claimant: incorporation of claimant's name by reference. (cont’d)
Example:
An application names the claimant as
"Owners of Plat B, Square 464 on page 844 of Record Book 501, Office of the Recorder of Deeds, Mexia, Texas." The Copyright Office will request a new application giving the names of the claimants.
622.10 Claimant: designation of groups at claimant space. The claimant name on the application
should be an entity capable of holding copyright. In general, where the claimant's name designates a group of persons, the application will be accepted without question, if it can be assumed that the membership of the group was determined before or at the time the application was submitted. An application is not acceptable, however, where the identity of the claimant is vague or ambiguous.
Examples:
1) An application names "Greencastle Combo" as claimant. The application is acceptable.
2) An application gives as claimant, "The 1982 Graduating Class of Summer Glen Elementary School." The application is acceptable on the assumption that class membership was fixed when the application was filed.
3) "The James Martin Family" is named as claimant on the application. Since the designation "family" is an open class whose membership was not determined, the application is unacceptable.
[February 1988]
600-111
622 Claimant: defined. (cont’d)
622.10 Claimant: designation of groups at claimant
space. (cont’d)
Examples: (cont’d)
4) An application names as claimant: "All
Right Thinking People." Since the claim-
ants are not identified, the application
is unacceptable.
622.11 Claimant: owner for limited term. An appli-
cation that names as claimant an owner of all
rights to the copyright for a limited term of
years may be registered. However, where
there is an indication that the application
is submitted outside the period of ownership,
the application will be questioned.
Examples:
1) An application names John Doe as claim-
ant; the transfer space notes: "By
written contract for a period of three
years. II No other contract information is
given. The application is acceptable.
2) An application is submitted naming John
Doe as claimant and giving the transfer
statement, "By written contract for three
years." The application is received on
April 22, 1983, together with a document
attached as a rider. The examiner notes
that the three-year period began on Janu-
ary 1, 1979. The application will be
questioned.
3) An application is submitted naming "John
Doe Recording Company" as the claimant
and giving as the transfer statement, "By
written contract obtained all United
States rights for a period of ten years."
[February 1988]
600-112
622
Claimant: defined. (cont'd)
622.11 Claimant: owner for limited term. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
3) (cont'd)
The document of transfer, simultaneously submitted by the applicant, indicates that the ten-year period has not expired. The application is acceptable.
622.12 Claimant: deceased person named at claimant
space. An application on that names a deceased person as claimant is not acceptable. When the Copyright Office has knowledge that a claimant died before the date of receipt of the application, the Office will request a new application naming the current owner of all rights to the copyright. It may name as the copyright claimant an heir of the decedent, the estate, or the executor, administrator, or personal representative of the decedent.
622.13 Claimant: clarity of number of claimants. The application should make clear the number of copyright claimants. Where the number of claimants is unclear, the Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
622.13(a) Clarity of number of claimants: individual and related individual and related unincorporated company named at claimant space. Where the applicant wishes to indicate that an individual and his unincorporated company are the same legal entity, the application should show the relationship between
the two, for example by stating 'doing
business as," "solely owned by," or the like. Otherwise, the number of claimants may be unclear. In such cases, the Copyright Office will communicate with the
[February 1988]
600-113
622 Claimant: defined. (cont’d)
622.13 Claimant: clarity of number of claimants. (cont'd)
622.13(a) Clarity of number of claimants: individual and related unincorporated company named at claimant space. (cont’d)
applicant. In general, for registration
purposes, the Office will presume that an
individual and a name-related, unincor-
porated organization are the same entity,
and an application naming an individual
and such an organization at the claimant
space will be accepted without question.
On the other hand, in some cases the
registration materials may indicate that
the two related names designate two
separate entities. In such cases, the
application will be examined accordingly.
See section 623.02 below.
Examples:
1) An application names as employer in a
work made for hire "John Doe Publish-
ing Company." The claimant space on
the application gives "John Doe dba
[doing business as] Doe Publishing
Company." The application is accept-
able.
2) An application names as author "John
Doe. II The claimant space gives "John
Doe Publishing, solely owned by John
Doe" with a separate address for
each. The transfer statement is "by
contract. II The application is
acceptable.
3) An application names Bill Jones as
author and Jones Company as the
claimant. No transfer statement is
[February 1988]
600-114
622 Claimant: defined. (cont'd)
622.13 Claimant: clarity of number of claimants. (cont'd)
622.13(a) Clarity of number of claimants: individual and related unincorporated company named at claimant space. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
3) (cont'd)
given. The Copyright Office will
register the claim on the assumption that the author and claimant are the same legal entity. NOTE: This
result would not obtain if the Jones Company had been designated as a corporate entity.
4) An application names John Doe as author and notes "John Doe, Smith Publishing Company" at the claimant space. There is no indication of the relationship between these two names, or a transfer statement showing how Smith Publishing Company obtained rights to the copyright. The Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
622.13(b) Clarity of number of claimants: unrelated names at the claimant space. Where two or more unrelated names are given at the claimant space on the application, the Copyright Office will assume that the names represent separate claimants unless one name represents part of the address or it is otherwise clearly indicated that the names are not intended to designate separate claimants.
[February 1988]
600-115
622 Claimant: defined. (cont'd)
622.13 Claimant: clarity of number of claimants. (cont'd)
622.13(b) Clarity of number of claimants: unrelated names at the claimant space (cont’d)
Example:
An application names Joan Doe,
author. At the claimant space, the following information appears:
"Joan Doe
c/o Smith Publishing Company 468 Enterprise Avenue Waukegan, Illinois 12345."
The application is acceptable. In the example above, the company name would be considered part of the address even if the "c/o" were not present.
622.14 Claimant: number of claims. Only one claim can be registered on a single application. Where more than one claim is being registered, each claim should be submitted on a separate application with a separate fee. Because statements describing the nature of authorship or royalty agreements may be interpreted as statements asserting separate claims, the applicant should not give such statements in the claimant space. In general, however, the Copyright Office will not question such statements if it seems clear that the applicant does not intend to assert more than one claim on an application.
Examples of statements given in the claimant space:
1) John Doe -- wrote words
Mary Doe -- wrote music
The application is acceptable.
[February 1988]
600-116
622 Claimant: defined. (cont'd)
622.14 Claimant: number of claims. (cont'd)
Examples (cont'd)
2) John Doe -- one-half share
Mary Doe -- one-half share
The application is acceptable.
3) John Doe -- owner of words
Mary Doe -- owner of music
The Copyright Office will ask the applicant(s) to submit two separate applications.
623 Transfers of copyright. For works published on or after January 1, 1978, if the copyright claimant is not the author, the application should contain a brief statement of how the claimant obtained ownership of the copyright. See 17 U.S.C. 409(5) and section 622 above. The applications for basic registration provide a space for transfer statements. Preferably, these statements should clearly reflect acts of transfer. However, an application will be accepted where there is a transfer statement from which a transfer in writing may be inferred. See section 623.03(b) below.
Example:
In 1984, an application for a work created in 1966, but not published until 1975, is registered by the claimant who is not the author. The transfer statement is "By oral agreement." The application is acceptable because the author could have transferred the copyright without a written instrument.
[February 1988]
600-117
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.01 Transfers of copyright: transfer statements on the application distinguished from documents. A statement of transfer is to be distinguished from an instrument conveying the copyright. Generally, the instrument of conveyance, or document, need not be submitted in support of the transfer statement. Moreover a document alone is not an acceptable substitute for a transfer statement. Generally, an application cannot incorporate by reference other documents but where an application also indicates the means of transfer, the application will be accepted despite references to “attached document.” In such cases, the application will be annotated to show that the document was removed and did not form part of the registration record.
Examples:
1) An application and document pertaining to the same work are submitted together. The application names different persons as claimant and author, but contains no transfer statement. The document is a contract purporting to convey the copyright interest in the work. Since the application itself does not contain a transfer statement, the application is not acceptable. When communicating with the applicant, the Copyright Office will suggest "by written contract" as an appropriate transfer statement.
2) An application and a document pertaining to the copyright in the same work are submitted together. The application contains an appropriate transfer statement. The applicant submits a single fee. The Copyright Office will register the claim and return the unrecorded document, informing the applicant of the procedure and fee for recordation.
[February 1988]
600-118
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.01 Transfers of copyright: transfer statements on the application distinguished from documents: (cont’d)
623.01(a) Transfer statements: application and document contradictory. As a rule, the Copyright Office does not interpret documents. Examiners are not required as a matter of course to analyze documents. However, all materials submitted in connection with registration may be read. When documents submitted with the applications appear to contradict the transfer described, the Office may communicate with the applicant before making registration.
Example:
An application and a document pertaining to the copyright in the same work are submitted together. The transfer statement on the application is, "By written agreement." The document grants the individual named
as claimant permission to publish under restricted conditions. The Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant stating the
difference between the grant described in the application and the grant in the document. If the
applicant's explanation is satisfactory, the Office will register the claim.
623.02 Transfer statements: non-author as claimant. Where a claimant (or co-claimant) is not the author or the same legal entity as the
author, the matter of whether a transfer statement is required depends upon whether the author, an authorized agent, or someone
[February 1988]
600-119
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.02 Transfer statements: non-author as claimant. (cont'd)
else signed the application. If the application names both an author and a nonauthor as co-claimants and if the application is signed by the author or an authorized agent thereof, the claim may be registered without a transfer statement. However, if the application is signed by a non-author, or such person's authorized agent, or someone else, the application must contain a transfer statement.
623.02(a) General requirements: transfers from one co-author of a joint work or a work consisting of only one element. Where
the work being registered is a joint work or consists of only one element, and has more than one author, a transfer statement need show only how the claimant obtained copyright ownership from one co-author.
Examples:
1) A musical composition consisting of words and music is submitted. The application names A as author of words and B as author of music. C is named as claimant. The transfer statement reads: "By written agreement from A." The application will be accepted.
2) A Form TX is submitted for an essay co-authored by A and B. The copyright claimant is C. The transfer statement reads: "Copyright assignment from B." The application is acceptable.
[February 1988]
600-120
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.02 Transfer Statements: non-author as claimant. (cont’d)
623.02(b) General requirements: transfers from one co-author of a work that is not a joint work but consists of more than one element. Where a unit embodies more than one work, the transfer statement given on the application should relate to each work covered by the claim being registered.
Examples:
1) An application for a published work names A as author of original oil painting and B as author of "reproduction-of a work of art." C
is named as the claimant. The transfer statement reads: "By contract from A." The Copyright Office will question whether C has obtained ownership of the. reproduction. If so, the Office will request an additional transfer statement. If not, the Office will ask the applicant to limit the scope of the claim.
2) The application names A as author of
a diary, and B as author of a commentary on the diary. B is named as the claimant and no transfer statement is given. The Copyright Office will ask the applicant to clarify the extent
of B's ownership. If B is not claiming-copyright in the diary, the claimant space may be limited by a statement such as "Copyright claimed on commentary only."
[February 1988]
600-121
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.02 Transfer statements: non-author as claimant. (cont'd)
623.02(b) General requirements: transfers from one co-author of work that is not a joint work but consists of more than one element. (cont’d)
Examples: (cont'd)
3) An application Form SR names A, an individual, as author of words and music, and B, a record company, as
author of the sound recording. A and B are named as co-claimants. The copyright Office will ask the applicant whether A and B are joint owners of the musical work-and the sound recording.
4) An application Form PA names C as author of an unpublished choreographic work and D as author of commentary and other material that was added after the choreographer died. C and D are named as coclaimants. The Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
5) An application Form VA names E as author of an original oil painting and F as author of a lithographic reproduction of the oil painting. E and F are named as co-claimants. The Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
623.02(c) General requirements: co-authors named as claimants. Where an application for a work having more than one author names a single author as the sole claimant, the
[February 1988]
600-122
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.02 Transfer statements: non-author as claimant. (cont'd)
623.02(c) General requirements: co-authors named as claimants. (cont'd)
application will be accepted without a transfer statement unless the claim appears to cover two separate works.
623.02(d)
General requirements: individuals and business organizations. In general, an application is acceptable without a transfer statement where the claimant space names an author in conjunction with a name under which the author is doing business. However, where the individual author and the business organization are separate legal entities, a transfer statement is required.
Examples:
1) An application names "Joan Doe" as author and gives "Joan Doe (Smith's Haute Couture)" as claimant. The transfer statement is: "Author is sole owner of Smith's Haute Couture." The application is acceptable.
2) An application names "Joan Doe" as author and "Joan Doe (Doe Publishing Company, Inc.)" as claimant. The transfer statement reads: "Author is sole owner of Doe Publishing." Since a corporate organization and an individual are separate legal entities, the application will be questioned.
623.02(e) General requirements: derivative works and compilations. A transfer statement is required where the claimant is not the author of the compilation or the new
[February 1988]
600-123
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.02 Transfer statements: non-author as claimant. (cont'd)
623.02(e) General requirements: derivative works and compilations. (cont'd)
material in a derivative work. Therefore, where the author of the preexisting material and the author of the new material are different persons, and the author of the preexisting material is the claimant of the new work, the application should indicate how he or she obtained ownership of copyright in the new material. However, if the derivative work is a "joint work," registration may be made without a transfer statement.
623.02(f) General requirements: collective works registered with individual contributions. A collective work may be registered together with individual contributions to the collective work on a single application with a single fee where the claimant of the collective work and the individual contributions is the same. In such cases, the application must give a transfer statement relating to the ownership of the individual contributions, where they have been authored by persons other than the author of the collective work.
623.03 Transfer statements: acceptable. The following transfer statements are acceptable to indicate how the claimant obtained ownership of the copyright. In most cases, variant forms of these terms are also acceptable.
600-124
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.03 Transfer statements: acceptable. (cont'd)
623.03(a) Conveyance of copyright: acceptable. An application is acceptable where it suggests that a conveyance of the copyright was made to the claimant by a written instrument. Examples include the following as transfer statements.
1) "By written agreement."
2) "Assignment."
3) "By contract."
4) "By transfer of title."
5) "By transfer of all rights."
6) "By author's grant of contractual
right to claim legal title in an application for copyright registration."
7) "By agreement with publisher."
8) "By gift agreement."
9) "By assignment to the United States Government."
10) "By assignment from the United States Government."
11) "By trust instrument."
12) "By assurance" (ancient legal term, meaning writing under seal).
13) "By bill of sale."
[February 1988]
600-125
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.03 Transfer statements: acceptable.(cont'd)
623.03(a) Conveyance of copyright: acceptable. (cont d)
Examples: (cont'd)
14) "Memorandum of oral agreement." See section 623.04(a) below.
15) "By written contract."
16) "By will."
17) "By exclusive songwriter's agreement."
18) "By transfer of all U. S. rights."
623.03(b) Conveyance of Copyright: written transfer
inferred. An application is acceptable if a written transfer can be inferred from the transfer statement. The following examples of transfer statements are acceptable unless there is information to the contrary:
Examples:
1) "By transfer."
2) "By purchase."
3) "By gift" (acceptable where an organization is the giver or receiver, or both; not acceptable as a transfer between two individuals).
4) "By agreement."
5) "By conveyance."
[February 1988]
600-126
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.03 Transfer statements: acceptable. (cont'd)
623.03(b) Conveyance of copyright: written transfer inferred. (cont’d)
Examples: (cont'd)
6) "By empowerment" (written grant of authority).
623.03(c) Transfer statements: transfer by operation of law. Whenever the application indicates that the copyright has been transferred by operation of law, the requirement for a transfer statement will be considered fulfilled. Examples include the following:
1) "By inheritance."
2) "By intestate succession."
3) "Heir under state law."
4) "By operation of state community property law."
5) "Partnership agreement."
623.03(d) Transfer statements: transfer by operation of law not specifically state. Where a transfer by operation of law can be inferred, or where the author and claimant can be considered the same entity, no formal transfer statement is necessary.
Examples:
1) Author's spouse is included on the application as co-claimant. The address is in one of the following
[February 1988]
600-127
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.03 Transfer statements: acceptable. (cont'd)
623.03(d) Transfer statements: transfer bf
operation of law not specifically stated. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
1) cont'd
community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, or Washington.
2) The application names William Smith and Edward Brown as authors; the claimant space states: Smith-Brown Company, a partnership.
3) Application states author is deceased; the claimant space gives the name of the claimant and states "Heir."
623.03(e) Transfer statements: written instruments by third parties. On occasion, a transfer statement referring to a written
instrument made by a third party is acceptable.
Examples:
1) "Deed from trustee in bankruptcy."
2) "Bylaws of a school board indicate employment of instructors is conditioned upon ownership of copyright in works created by the instructors during duty hours."
3) "By mortgage foreclosure."
[February 1988]
600-128
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.03 Transfer statements: acceptable.
623.03 (e) Transfer statements: written instruments by third parties. (cont’d)
Examples: (cont'd)
4) "From mortgagee after foreclosure."
5) "By court order."
623.03(f) Transfer statement: chain of title. In general, a transfer statement is acceptable where it gives only the last act of transfer to the claimant, unless there is some doubt about the validity of that transfer. However, where a claim is submitted in the work of a long-deceased or well-known deceased. author, and there is no indication that the claimant is
related to that author, the Copyright Office may request that the applicant submit a supplementary statement describing the chain of title from author to claimant. Where such a statement is provided, the application will be accepted reflecting only the last act of transfer. The supplementary statement will be maintained in the correspondence file relating to registration of that work.
Example:
A newly discovered musical composition by a well-known composer who died in 1918 published with introductory text is submitted for registration. The application names a music publisher as copyright claimant. The transfer statement reads:
[February 1988]
600-129
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.03 Transfer statements: acceptable. (cont'd)
623.03(f) Transfer statements: chain of title.(cont'd)
Example: (cont'd)
"By assignment." The Copyright Office will request that the applicant submit a letter indicating the chain of title from the composer (or his successors in interest) to the current claimant.
623.04 Transfer statements: unacceptable. An
application is not acceptable in the first instance if it (1) indicates that the transfer took place solely by means of an oral agreement (but see section 623 above), (2) describes the-Ela1mant's relationship to the author in terms that do not operate to transfer the copyright, or (3) shows that less than all rights were transferred.
623.04(a) Unacceptable transfer statements: oral agreement. Generally, an oral agreement without a written note or memorandum is not sufficient to transfer copyright in works statutorily copyrighted on or after January 1, 1978. See 17 U.S.C. 204(a). Where an application for such a work states that the copyright has been transferred by an oral contract, the Copyright Office will ask the applicant whether the transfer was confirmed in writing and, if such transfer is so confirmed, the Office will annotate the transfer statement accordingly. If the transfer was not confirmed in this manner, the applicant may seek registration after obtaining a written confirmation.
[February 1988]
600-130
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.04(b) Unacceptable transfer statements: transfer of material object. A transfer of the material object in which a work is embodied does not of itself convey any copyright interest in the work. Se 17 U.S.C. 202. Therefore, statements that refer only to the transfer of the material object will be questioned
Examples:
1) "John Doe gave me this copy."
2) "I bought the painting."
623.04(c) Unacceptable transfer statements: possession of material object. A transfer statement suggesting that the person named as claimant on the application obtained mere possession of the material object is not acceptable.
Examples:
1) "Found in attic trunk."
2) "Discovered in a warehouse."
3) "The author sent these love letters to me when we were young."
4) "Author asked me to keep it for him."
623.04(d) Unacceptable transfer statements: status
or special relationship. In general, a
statement that the claimant enjoyed a certain status or special relationship to the author is not sufficient as a transfer statement.
[February 1988]
600-131
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.04 Transfer statements: unacceptable. (cont'd)
623.04(d) Unacceptable transfer statements: status or special relationship. (cont’d)
Examples of unacceptable statements:
1) "Author is president of claimant corporation." The transfer statement is not acceptable.
2) "Claimant is daughter of the deceased author." The Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant and will suggest, where appropriate, a new transfer statement, such as, "Heir under state law" or "By will."
3) "Author owns 100 percent of the corporation's stock."
4) "Claimant is author's agent."
5) "Claimant produces all of author's artistic works."
6) "Claimant is author's publisher."
7) "Rules of contest."
623.04(e) Unacceptable transfer statements: less
than a 1 rights. For registration purposes, a conveyance of less than all rights to the copyright claimant, such as non-exclusive rights or a single exclusive right, is not a sufficient conveyance to create the status of "claimant." Therefore, where ~he transfer space on the application reflects a transfer of less than all rights of ownership under the U.S. copyright law, the Copyright
[February 1988]
600-132
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.04 Transfer statements: unacceptable. (cont’d)
623.04(e) Unacceptable transfer statements: less
than a 1 rights. (cont'd)
Office will communicate with the applicant. Examples of such unacceptable transfer statements include:
1) "By designation."
2) "By license."
3) "By permission."
4) "By request."
5) "By transfer of right of first publication."
6) "By purchase of option."
7) "Broadcast rights."
8) "Agreement to prepare derivative work."
9) "By lease."
10) "Transfer of world rights except for copyright in the U.S.A."
11) "By consignment."
12) "Transfer of all rights except the exclusive right of performance."
13) "Obtained all motion picture rights."
14) "Transfer of serial rights."
[February 1988]
600-133
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.04 Transfer statements: unacceptable. (cont'd)
623.04(e) Unacceptable transfer statements: less
than all rights. (cont'd)
Examples: (cont'd)
15) "Dedicated to."
16) "By consent."
17) "By release."
623.04(f) Unacceptable transfer statements: reserved rights related to copyright. Where a transfer statement rejects a reservation of rights that could relate to exclusive rights in the copyright, the statement will be questioned. After satisfactory explanation, however, the claim will be registered with an annotation.
Example:
In an application for registration of
a claim in an audiovisual work, Sonsui Concepts, Ltd. is named as the author of a work made for hire. The claimant is noted as "Great American Games." The transfer statement reads: "Transfer of all United States rights except to create hand-held version." The Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
623.05 Transfer statement: extraneous information. Gratuitous information given regarding a transfer of copyright will generally be disregarded, unless it either contradicts or explains the apparent means of transfer.
[February 1988]
600-134
623 Transfers of copyright. (cont'd)
623.05 Transfer statement: extraneous information. (cont'd)
Examples:
1) The employer in the case of a work made for hire is named as claimant. The transfer space states: "By contract." Since the statement could refer to a "for-hire" agreement, the Copyright Office will not regard the transfer statement as contradictory.
2) A corporation is named as claimant and an individual is named as author. The transfer space states: "Author is president of the corporation, owns all stock, and has voluntarily transferred all rights." The Copyright Office will regard the statement as acceptable.
624 Previous registration space on the application. The application form poses the quest on: "Has registration for this work, or for an earlier version of this work, already been made in the Copyright Office?" If the work or part of the work for which registration is sought was registered previously in the United States Copyright Office, the applicant should check "Yes." In such cases, the applicant should check also the appropriate box relating to the basis for new registration. However, where the boxes are not checked, but the material-added statement (or a statement elsewhere on the application) makes the claim clear, the application is acceptable. Where the question regarding previous registration is not answered, the application will be accepted if the work being registered appears to be a new work.
[February 1988]
600-135
624 Previous registration space on the application. (cont'd)
624.01 Previous registration question answered “Yes:” practices. If the question, “Has registration for this work, or for an earlier version of this work, already been made in the Copyright Office?” is checked “Yes,” the fallowing practices apply.
624.01 (a) Previous registration practices: answers
to questions clearly erroneous. Where
the previous registration question is checked "Yes," but the answer clearly is in error or does not relate to registration in the United States Copyright Office, the Office will annotate the application and register the claim without correspondence.
Examples:
1) The previous registration question is checked "Yes." Because of an error on a prior application, the applicant was asked to submit a new one. When resubmitting, the applicant refers to
a previous application as a "Previous
registration.' The Copyright Office will annotate the application and register the claim.
2) The previous registration question is checked "Yes" and "in Canada" is added. With the registration materials, the applicant includes a copy of a Canadian copyright certificate. The Copyright Office will annotate the application and register the claim.
3) The previous registration question is checked "Yes." In a letter of transmittal, the applicant explains that
[February 1988]
600-136
624 Previous registration space on the application. (cont'd)
624.01 Previous registration question answered “Yes:” practices. (cont’d)
624.01 (a) Previous registration practices: answers to questions clearly erroneous. (cont’d)
Examples: (cont'd)
3) (cont'd)
she registered the screenplay previously with the Screenwriters' Guild. The Copyright Office will annotate the application and register the claim.
624.01(b) Previous registration practices: first published edition. Where the previous registration question is answered "Yes"
and the basis for new registration is the
first published edition of a work previously registered as unpublished. the applicant should check the appropriate block in the "Previous Registration"
space and should give complete information in the "Publication" space. Where
it appears that this basis for registration is not appropriate. the Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
Example:
The previous registration question on
an application is checked "Yes." and the basis for new registration is given as "First published edition." The book jacket. deposited with each copy of the book. states that the work had been previously published in the United Kingdom but this is the first edition .of the work published
[February 1988]
600-137
624 Previous registration space on the application. (cont'd)
624.01 Previous registration question answered "Yes:" practices. (cont'd)
624.01 (b) Previous registration practices: first
published edition. (cont'd)
Example: (cont'd)
in the United States. The Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
624.01(c)Previous registration practices: basic
registration by author as copyright claimant. Where the previous registration
question is answered "Yes" and the basis for new registration is the author's first application as copyright claimant for the work in question, the application is acceptable if: (1) it shows that the author or co-author and claimant are the same, and (2) previous registration was made on or after January 1,1978. An author of a work registered before 1978 in the name of another claimant cannot make a second basic registration for that work. Moreover, if the work was published before 1978, an author whose name was not in the notice of copyright for that work cannot register it in his or her own name.
Example:
The previous registration question is
answered "Yes," and the basis for new registration is given as "The first application submitted by this author as copyright claimant." The previous registration number and year are "EU75312" and "1977," respectively.
[February 1988]
600-138
624 Previous registration space on the application. (cont'd)
624.01 Previous registration question answered “Yes:” practices. (cont’d)
624.01 (c) Previous registration practices: basic registration by author as copyright claimant. (cont'd)
Example: (cont'd)
The Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant. If the facts stated on the application are correct. the Office will refuse to register the claim.
624.01 (d) Previous registration practices: revised version. Where the previous registration question is answered “Yes” and the basis for new registration is that the previously registered work has been revised to the extent that the new version constitutes an “original work of authorship,” the derivative-work block on the application should be completed.
624.01 (d) Previous registration practices: adverse claims. Where an applicant states that an earlier registration for the same work was unauthorized and is legally invalid, the previous registration question should not be checked "Yes." However. where the question is answered "Yes" and the basis for new registration is given. the application will be accepted. An appropriate statement on the application might be: "This application is for a work. the earlier registration of which was unauthorized." If such a statement is not given and the previous registration question is answered "Yes." but the basis for registration is clear. the Copyright
[February 1988]
600-139
624 Previous registration space on the application. (cont'd)
624.01 Previous registration Question answered "Yes." practices. (cont'd)
624.01 (e) Previous registration practices: adverse claims. (cont'd)
Office may annotate the application without correspondence. See 37 C.F.R. 202.3 (6)(iii).
624.01(f) Previous registration practices: new registration to correct certain errors. Where an applicant has previously registered a claim and the registration contains certain errors that the Copyright Office could not have recognized, the errors are ordinarily corrected by making a supplementary registration. Certain errors may be corrected by a new basic registration. Errors that may be corrected by a new basic registration include registrations for published works erroneously
registered as unpublished. See Chapter 1500: CORRECTIONS AND AMPLIFICATIONS OF COPYRIGHT OFFICE RECORDS; SUPPLEMENTARY REGISTRATIONS; see also sections 631 and 632 below.
Example:
Applicant submits letter requesting form for correcting an error in the previous registration. Sheet music was registered as unpublished but was in fact published when originally submitted. One copy was submitted with the original registration materials. The Copyright Office will suggest a new basic registration on Form PA, with the previous registration question checked "Yes." In the
[February 1988]
600-140
624 Previous registration space on the application. (cont'd)
624.01 Previous registration question answered "Yes: " practices. (cont' d)
624.01 (f) Previous registration practices: new registration to correct certain errors. (cont’d)
Example: (cont'd)
same space, the applicant should give a statement, such as, "To amend the registration records for a published work erroneously registered as unpublished." (If such a statement is not provided, the Office will annotate the application.)
624.01 (g) Previous registration: question answered
"No." The Copyright Office will question a negative answer to the previous registration question where the answer is clearly contradictory or otherwise implausible.
Example:
Applicant has answered the previous registration question "No" and has indicated "This is the first published edition of a work previously registered in unpublished form." The application will be questioned.
[February 1988]
600-141
625 Compilations. The subject matter of copyright
includes compilations that as a whole constitute original works of authorship. The copyright in a
compilation is independent of any copyright protection in the preexisting material. See 17
u. S . C. 1 01, 1 02, and 1 03.
625.01 Compilations: appropriate application form.
Registration of a claim in a compilation should be made on the application form most appropriate to the preexisting material. However, the Copyright Office may accept a compilation claim on another one of the application forms for basic registration, provided that the form has some relationship to the category of material compiled.
625.02 Compilations: registrable. A compilation is registrable if its organization, arrangement, or selection as a whole constitute an original work of authorship.
Examples:
1) Two Forms PA, each claiming in "Compilation" are received with a folio and a phonorecord containing the same 15 musical selections. The order of the selections, however, is substantially different. The applications will be accepted.
2) Form SR claiming on "Compilation" is submitted for a recording of a new album entitled "Johnny Mash: Live at Billy Jack's." The Copyright Office will question whether the work contains an original compilation of previously recorded sounds since a live performance indicates that the sounds were recorded in a single continuous session.
[February 1988]
600-142
625 Compilations. (cont'd)
625.03 Compilations: unregistrable. Where it appears that the compilation does not constitute an original work of authorship or that it is not subject to copyright protection for any other reason, the Copyright Office will refuse to register the claim.
Examples:
1) A compilation of two songs on a 45-rpm disc is submitted for registration. The Copyright Office will refuse to register the claim in a compilation.
2) A previously registered compilation is resubmitted as a new compilation. The authorship statement reads: "Last three selections deleted." The Copyright Office will refuse to register the claim.
3) A claim in compilation is submitted for a feature writer's weekly contribution to "The Times" over a period of six months. The compilation is arranged in chronological order. The Copyright Office will refuse to register the claim in a compilation.
4) Form TX is submitted with the complete published collection of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories arranged chronologically. The Copyright Office will refuse to register the claim in a compilation.
625.03(a) Unregistrable compilations: unlawful employment of preexisting copyrighted material. Protection for a compilation employing preexisting material in which copyright subsists does not extend to any part of the work in which such material has been used unlawfully. See 17 U.S.C.
[February 1988]
600-143
625 Compilations. (cont'd)
625.03 Compilations: unregistrable. (cont'd)
625.03(a) Unregistrable compilations: unlawful
employment of preexisting copyrighted
mater ale (cont'd)
103(a). This applies to compilations
which are made up entirely of preexisting copyrighted material, the use of which is unauthorized. Where it appears that such a compilation is submitted for registration, the application may be questioned.
625.04 Compilation statements. The following practices apply to information given on the application regarding compilations.
625.04(a) Compilation statements: nature and location of statement on the application. The application for a compilation should contain a statement describing both the material that has been compiled and the compilation itself. However, if the claim is clear from the registration materials, the application may be accepted as submitted, or in appropriate cases, annotated. Annotation is appropriate where the claim is clear from registration materials other than the application.
Example:
Compilation of certain 1917 speeches by Woodrow Wilson.
625.04(b) Compilation statements: registering a
claim in compilation and derivative work. In the case where the applicant wishes to claim on both compilation and derivative work authorship, the compilation authorship should be included on the application at the "Material Added" space.
[February 1 988]
600-144
625 Compilations. (cont'd)
625.04 Compilation statements. (cont'd)
625.04(b) Compilation statements: registering a claim in compilation and derivative work.
If, however, the "Material Added" space is blank, but the nature of the new material is included elsewhere on the application, the application is acceptable.
625.05 Compilation statements: acceptable. The fallowing are examples of statements that are acceptable to describe registrable compilations authorship.
1) "Compilation of poems by William Henry Harrison."
2) "A compilation of 1930 recordings by Chicago Big Bands."
3) "Compilation of authentic songs of the American Revolution."
4) "Collection of 19th Century political cartoons."
5) "Selection and coordinating of numerical data."
6) "Ordering and reorganization of all of Mozart's Symphonies."
7) "Compilation of previously published film footage."
8) "Anthology of previously published short stories."
[February 1988]
600-145
626 Derivative works: definition. A "derivative
work" is a work based upon one or more pre
existing works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization,
motion picture version, sound recording, art
reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any
other form in which a work may be recast, trans
formed, or adapted. A work consisting of edi-
torial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or
other modifications which, as a whole, represent
an original work of authorship, is a "derivative work." See 17 U.S.C. 101.
626.01 Derivative works: general practices. The following practices relate to the spaces on the application form designated "Preexisting
Material" and "Material Added to This Work" under the general heading of "Derivative Work or Compilation."
626.01 (a) Derivative works: when statement not required. No statement will be required unless a substantial amount of the material incorporated in the derivative work is in the public domain or has been
registered or published previously.
626.01 (b) Derivative works: statement of claim elsewhere. Where an application for a derivative work contains no statement at the derivative-work space, but the material excluded from the claim and the new material are clearly indicated elsewhere on the application, the application
will be accepted. Where other registration materials make clear the extent of the claim, the application will be annotated and the claim will be registered. Otherwise, the Copyright Office will communicate with the applicant.
[February 1988]
600-146
626 Derivative works: definition. (cont'd)