US Copyright Office

“ In determining whether a work is a "musical composition" or purposes or copyright registration, the usual standards of musical criticism have no application. The presence of notes does not necessarily presuppose the existence of a tune or of any relationship to a particular mode or key. ”

“ The statute defines a work made for hire as a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment, or a work specially ordered or com­missioned for use as a contribution to a collective work, as a part of a motion picture or other audio­ visual work, as a translation, as a supplementary work, as a compilation, as an instructional text, as a test, as answer material for a test, or as an atlas, if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire. ”

“ It is usally the purpose of the discussion of all appeal merely to elicit information and clarify positions, rather than to settle the case once and for all. However, where facts are brought out in the discussion which completely change the complexion of a case (e.a., a work by a Turkish citizen is found to have been first published in a U.C.C. country) , it may be appropriate to indicate what action the office will take. ”

“ Thus, a work by a single author con­sisting of a collection of his writings is not a composite work. Similarly, a work which is the product of joint authorship and common design, or which consists of elements which have been indistinguishably merged into a single entity, cannot be regarded as composite, e.g., musical compositions, dramas, dramatico-musical works, and motion pictures. ”

“ The mere fact that a work of sculpture embodies uncopy­rightable elements, such as standard forms of ornamentation or embellish­ment, will not prevent registration. However, the creative expression capable of supporting copyright must consist of something more than the mere bringing together of two or three standard forms or shapes with minor linear or spatial variations. In no event can registration rest solely upon the fact that an idea, method, plan, or system has been successfully communicated in three­ dimensional form. ”

“ Definition of fixation. A work is "fixed" in a tangible medium of expression when its embodiment in a copy or phonorecord, by or under the authority of the author, is suffi­ciently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration. ”

“ Two sets of photographs or reproductions will be required whenever two copies of the work would ordinarily be deposited, and each set must be complete and identical.
5.
All photographs and reproductions of any one work shall be of equal size and must not be smaller than 5 × 7 inches or larger than 9 × 12 inches in dimension. The preferred size is 8 × 10 inches. Each photograph or reproduction, regardless of size, shall present the work in an image that is lifesize or larger; or, if smaller than lifesize, the image must be at least 4 inches in one of its dimensions. ”

“ Source code is the computer program code as the programmer writes it, using a particular programming language, generally a program written in high-level language, such as, BASIC, COBOL, or FORTRAN. A program in source code must be changed into object code before the computer can execute it. This change is accomplished by a separate program within the computer called an assembler or a compiler to enable the program to be run on a particular brand and model computer (e.g., a compiler on a TRS-80 Model III would enable source code to be executed on that particular brand and model computer) . ”

“ Whenever there is a difference be­tween the name in the notice on the copies and the name of the copyright claimant given on the application, the discrepancy may be resolved by adding an annotation to both the application and certificate, provided, of course, the relationship between the two names is explicitly disclosed elsewhere on the application.
NOTE: It is clear that nothing in the law prevents the author from writing under a pseudonym or remaining anonymous. No problem arises unless the pseudonym or fictitious name appears in the copyright notice. ”

“ Publication is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. The offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display, constitutes publication. A public performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute
publication. ”

“ Unless a person is the author of a photo­ graph, or holds rights which derive from the author, he is not entitled to claim copyright into A sharp distinction must be drawn between title to, or possession of, the physical copy of a photograph, and the copyright in the work. ”

“ A deri­vative work is one based upon one or more pre­existing 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, trans­formed, or adapted. A work consisting of edi­torial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications which, as a whole, represent an original work of authorship, is a derivative work. ”

“ By nature a notice of use is an entirely different type of legal instrument from an application for original or renewal registration. It is generally recorded without any effort on the part of the Copyright office to check the facts it states, and the cataloger should ordinarily not refer a notice of use even if he recognizes or discovers an error in the information included in it. ”

“ The "author" is the person who prepared the material covered by the copy­right claim except that in the case of a work made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared, is considered to be the author. Thus, where a work is made for hire, it is the nation­ality or domicile of the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared, rather than the nationality or domicile of the employee, which may serve as a basis for determining eligibility for registration. ”

“ Since eligibility to claim copyright is one of the fundamental requirements of our law, the citizenship of the claimant, as well as that of the deceased author, is required in the posthumous work situation to assure a complete legal record, except where the work is eligible under the U.C.C. because of first publication in a U.C.C. country other than the United States. ”

“ In order for a work to be the subject matter of copyright under the current law, it must be an original work of authorship. Quality, aesthetic merit, ingenuity, and uniqueness are not considered in determining the copyrightability of a work. ”

“ In general, a published or unpublished work by a citizen of a "proclaimed country," or of a country which is a party to the Universal Copyright Conven­tion or the Buenos Aires Copyright Convention of 1910, is eligible for registration, regardless of the domicile of the author or the place of first publication.
b.
A work whose author is a citizen of a country with which the U. S. has copyright relations only through the U.C.C. and that is first published in the U. S. may be registered under the rule of doubt, assuming the formalities applicable to non-U.C.C. works have been complied with. ”

“ Sounds accompanying an audiovisual work. When sounds are present, they do not need to be physically integrated with the series of related images to be considered "accompanying sounds," for example, a filmstrip with a separate audio cassette. By definition, there is a distinction between the "accompanying sounds" of an audio­visual work and the series of sounds in a "sound recording." While sound recordings are works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds, such sounds do not include "sound accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work." ”

“ Where a claim is based on new matter of private authorship but the work contains Government material, if it seems appropriate in order to clearly indicate the basis of the claim, we may request the new matter statement be accompanied by a disclaimer.
III.
Government Printing. The fact that a work was printed by the U.S. Government is an indication that it may be a Government publication, but is not conclusive. If an individual or private organization is named as the author or claimant, we will inquire as to the facts of Government or private authorship. ”

“ Where, because of the size or physical characteristics of the material in which the work is reproduced in copies, it is impossible or extremely impractical to affix a notice to the copies directly or by means of a durable label, a notice is acceptable if it appears on a tag that is of durable material, so as to withstand normal use, and that is attached to the copy with sufficient durability that it will remain with the copy while it is passing through its normal channels of commerce. ”