US Copyright Office

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. A "corrective entry" is an entirely new registration which may be made in certain instances to correct an error in some fact stated by the applicant in the original, completed registration. These cases involve a mistake (or omission or ambiguity) in the original application and/or copy which the examiner could not be held responsible for failing to observe.
NOTE: A "corrective entry" is not appropriate to correct an error appearing in the copyrightable content of the original deposit copy or copies. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Under the court decisions, a general publication may be defined as the act of making one or more copies of a work available to the general public, with­ out express or implied restrictions as to future use, usually by means of a sale, an offering for sale, or a public distribution. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The fact that the Examining Division should have written about a problem before registration is completed does not necessarily mean that the case will be handled as a referral after registration. On the other hand, the fact that a problem is not sufficiently serious to cause a referral should not be regarded by the examiner as a license to
ignore the problem in the first instance. If the Cataloging Division notes that a particular error is being ignored consis­tently, it should call this fact to the attention of the Head of the Examining Division Section involved. ”

“ Occasionally members of the public seek oral advice concerning the registrability of their works in advance of filing an application for registration. Such opinions are ordinarily solicited in the course of a visit to the Public Information Office of the Copyright Office. As a general rule, unless registration is unquestionably impossible, we will advise that an application should be filed to enable us to give the case thorough consideration. Usually visitors are seen by Section Heads, Assistant Section Heads, or Senior Examiners. ”

“ A case should be referred where there is real doubt as to whether the identity of the claimant named in the application for a published work is the same as that of the claimant named in the notice, unless the variance has been resolved by annotation. ”

“ In the case of a copyrighted musical composition, the copyright owner has an exclusive right to record the work on mechanical instruments such as phonograph records, up to the time he himself records the composition or licenses someone else to record it. ”

“ Indexing. When a document which tails to identify the necessary parties is recorded, it will be indexed only under the names it contains; no index cards will be prepared under other names furnished in correspondence or elsewhere.
IV.
One-party documents. A document which necessarily involves only one party (e.g., an affidavit, an abandonment, a disclaimer, etc.) will be indexed under the single name involved; where possible, a
descriptive phrase characterizing the document will be transcribed on the index card. ”

“ The "notice of use" requirement. "It shall be the duty of the copyright owner, it he uses the musical composition himself for the manufacture of parts of instruments serving to reproduce mechanically the musical work, or licenses others to do so, to file notice thereof, accompanied by a recording fee, in the Copyright Office, and any failure to file such notice shall be a complete defense to any suit, action, or proceeding for any infringement of such copyright." ”

“ A toy manufacturer conceives a novel idea for a toy consisting of multi-colored geometrical spheres, cubes, and cylinders of varying sizes. All of these parts or pieces are magnetized, and will adhere to each other when placed in close proximity. Thus, it is possible to con­struct an indefinite variety of shapes and figures by means of the magnetized parts or pieces. The manufacturer desires to pro­tect the three-dimensional aspects of the toy before publi­cation occurs. He applies to the Copyright Office for regis­tration of a design for an un­published sculptural work of art. ”

“ Proprietor-claimant. The proprietor of a periodic, cyclopedic, or other composite work may claim renewal in the work as a whole.
II.
Definitions. Generally, a composite work is an original publication relating to a variety of subjects, to which number of different authors have contributed distinguishable and separable selections.
a.
To be regarded as "composite" a work must be covered by a single copyright.
b.
A work by a single author, consisting of a collection of his writings, is not a composite work. ”

“ Where the copyright notice contains only the proprietor's surname and the copies do not bear the full name of any individual with that surname placed in such a position that it might mislead the public as to the identity of the copyright proprietor, we should register the claim with a warning letter and an annotation showing that only the surname appears in the notice. ”

“ If a work of art has been published in connection with the sale or advertisement of an article or articles of merchandise, registration in Class K on Form KK is appropriate, For example, registration on Form KK would be appropriate for a painting reproduced and first published on the cover of a candy box, or a carved lion's head intended for promotional dis­play in connection with the sale or advertisement of imported beer. ”

“ In all cases where it is clear that the basic musical composition is in the public domain, registration should be made only if an acceptable statement of new matter appears in the space provided for that purpose on the application. Moreover, it is not sufficient for the new matter merely to be suggested indirectly in the statement of authorship on the application. ”

“ Where various parts or installments of a work are first published separated, each part or installment is regarded as a separate work, subject to its own registration on the basis of its own publication date.
b.
An application giving more than one date of publication will not be accepted.
c.
Where a work is first published as a unit, the fact that parts of the work are later
distributed separately will not preclude a single registration for the work.
Example:
Syndicated cartoons first published by distribution in "book" form to newspapers. ”

“ When the bulk of the copyrightable matter is compilation or editing rather than actual literary or musical composition, the work may be submitted for registration either as a book or as a musical composition. Where the compilation or editing relates primarily to the text rather than the music, the applicant may be cautioned that the work (manufactured outside the United States) may not meet the manufacturing requirements. ”

“ A case should not be referred because the cataloger knows of the existence of a better edition of the work, unless there was also clear reason, on the face of the application or copies, for the examiner to know of its existence at the time of registration. ”

“ When the Copyright Office records indicate that no American edition of a work has ever been registered the Copyright Office will refuse registration for a renewal claim, based on an ad interim registration. ”

“ Since the term of copyright in a published work is computed from the date of publication, regardless of when registration is completed, the presence of two registrations in our records covering the same published work does not raise problems as to the length of the term, However, the possibility of making a "corrective entry" should not be suggested indis­criminately. ”

“ Since the specific outlines and contours of the patterns and shapes formed by the liquid petroleum do not owe their origin to a human agent, it is not possible to claim copyright in such patterns and shapes. The novelty of the idea embodied in the work and the effects achieved by the action of the petroleum under pressure likewise do not warrant registration. ”

“ The effective date of registration for an unpublished work is the date on which the last of the three elements required for registration, that is, the application, copy, and fee, is received in acceptable form in the Copyright Office. ”

“ Classes L and M. A notice without the year date will be accepted for either Class L or M, but the applicant will be cautioned that such a notice may not be adequate, especially for Class L.
IV.
Contribution to periodicals. The notice on a contribution to a periodical must be in a form appropriate to the character or the contribution as a separate work. Thus, if the contribution is a literary or musical work, the notice must include the year date. If the contribution is a graphic work (Class F-K material) , a notice lacking the year date is acceptable. ”

“ Where a notice lists the general title of a collective work, together with the titles of two or more compositions included in the work, it may be necessary to ask the sender how he wishes the notice indexed, in order to determine the recording fee. ”

“ Single class. If the author is dead, his widow (widower) and children are entitled to claim renewal. The widow and children are regarded as a single class of renewal claimants, and applications from either or both will be accepted without question.
II.
Definition of "widow." The term "widow" (or "widower") refers to the surviving spouse of the author.
a.
A widow does not loose her renewal right upon remarriage.
b.
A divorced spouse is not an acceptable renewal claimant, but the Copyright Office will not inquire into the validity of a marriage or divorce. ”

“ To constitute a "musical composition" for purposes of copyright registration in Class E, a work must generally contain notations representation a succession of musical sounds, usually in some definite melodic and rhythmic pattern. The work may consist of music alone, or of words and music combined. ”

“ There is no obligation to register a claim to copyright in an unpublished work. As long as a "photograph" remains in unpublished form, it is subject to protection under the common law against unauthorized use before pub­lication without any action being required in the Copyright Office. However, if a work registered in unpublished form is later published with notice of copyright, a second registration should be made "promptly" thereafter. (See topic 2.11.3.1II.d.2.) ”