701Application forms. 701.01Statutory authorization. 701.02Statutory requirements. 702Basic application forms. 702.01Class TX, Form TX: Nondramatic Literary Works other Than Serials. 702.02Class TX, Form SE: Serials. 702.03Class PA, Form PA: Works of the Performing Arts. 702.04Class VA, Form VA: Works of the Visual Arts. 702.05Class SR, Form SR: Sound Recordings. 703Renewal application: Form RE. 704Registration forms for special cases. 704.01Form CA: Supplementary Registration. 704.02Form GR/CP: Group Registration for Contributions to Periodicals. 705Import Statement. 705.01Form IS: Request for Issuance of an Import Statement. 706Submission of material. 707Quality and legibility of application forms. 707.01Only application forms issued by the Copyright Office may be used. 707.02Information given on the application forms should be typewritten or legibly printed in black ink. 708Selection of most appropriate application form. 708.01Nature of authorship determinative. 708.02Two forms seem appropriate: song lyrics, speeches, and other works prepared for oral delivery.
708.03Contributions to collective works. 708.04Derivative works. 708.05Works in which the claim includes two or more categories of authorship. 709Classification for administrative purposes only.
[Numbers 710 through 749 are reserved.] 750Fees. 750.01Applicability of fees to U.S. Government. 750.02Refunds. 751Effective date of fee schedule under the current Act. 752Submission of registration fees. 753Form of payment. 753.01Currency. 753.02Fees remitted from outside the United States or made payable in foreign currency. 754Deposit Accounts. 754.01Minimum requirements for Deposit Accounts. 755Cancellation of registration in cases of dishonored checks. 756Fees not specified in section 708 of the current Act.
Chapter 700
APPLICATIONS AND FEES
701
Application forms. The following are the statutory provisions relating to the application forms.
701.01
Statutory authorization. The Register of Copyrights is authorized to specify by regulation the administrative classes into which works are to be placed for purposes of deposit and registration. This administrative classification of works has no significance with respect to the subject matter of copyright or the exclusive rights provided by the copyright law. See 17 U.S.C. 408(c)(1).
701.02
Statutory requirements. Section 409 of the copyright law specifies that the application for copyright registration shall be made on a form prescribed by the Register of Copyrights and that it shall include:
1)
the name and address of the copyright claimant:
2)
in the case of a work other than an anonymous or pseudonymous work, the name and nationality or nation of domicile of the author or authors, and, if one or more of the authors is dead, the dates of their deaths:
3)
if the work is anonymous or pseudonymous, the nationality or nation of domicile of the author or authors:
4)
in the case of a work made for hire, a statement to the effect that it is such a work:
5)
if the copyright claimant is not the author, a brief statement of how the claimant obtained ownership of the copyright:
6)
the title of the work, together with any previous or alternative titles under which the work can be identified.
7)
the year in which creation of the work was completed:
8)
if the work has been published, the date and nation of its first publication:
9)
in the case of a compilation or derivative work, an identification of any preexisting work or works that it is based on or incorporates, and a brief, general statement of the additional material covered by the copyright claim being registered:
10)
in the case of a published work containing material of which copies are required by section 601 of the current Act to be manufactured in the united States, the names of the persons or organizations who performed the processes specified by subsection (c) of section 601 with respect to that material, and the places where those processes were performed: and
11)
any other information regarded by the Register of Copyrights as bearing upon the preparation or identification of the work or the existence, ownership, or duration of the copyright.
702
Basic application forms. Pursuant to the statutory authority given to the Register of Copyrights, the Copyright Office has established basic classes for original registrations with corresponding application forms. These classes are as follows:
702.01
Class TX, Form TX: Nondramatic Literary Works Other Than Serials. This category includes published and unpublished nondramatic literary works. Examples include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, textbooks, reference works, directories, catalogs, advertising
copy, computer programs, and compilations of information, including data bases.
702.02
Class TX, Form SE: Serials. A serial is defined as a work issued or intended to be issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely, such as periodicals, newspapers, annuals, journals, and proceedings of societies.
NOTE: A contribution to a serial is not registered on Form SE. See section 708.01 below.
702.03
Class PA, Form PA: Works of the Performing Arts. This category includes published and unpublished works prepared for the purpose of being performed directly before an audience or indirectly by means of a device or process. Examples are musical works, including any accompanying words; dramatic works, including any accompanying music; pantomimes and choreographic works; and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, including accompanying sounds, if any.
702.04
Class VA, Form VA: Works of the Visual Arts. This category includes published and unpublished pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works. Examples are two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied arts, photographs, prints and art reproductions, maps, globes, and charts, technical drawings, diagrams, and models, as well as pictorial or graphic labels and advertisements.
702.05
Class SR, Form SR: Sound Recordings. This category includes all published and unpublished sound recordings fixed on or after February 15, 1972. In addition, claims to copyright in literary, dramatic, and musical works embodied in a phonorecord may be registered in Class SR if the claimant for both the sound recording and the underlying work is the same and the application covers both the sound recording and the underlying material. "Sound recordings" are works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds. The audio portions of audiovisual works, such as a motion picture soundtrack or an audio cassette accompanying a filmstrip, are considered an integral part of the audiovisual work and are registrable in Class PA rather than Class SR.
703
Renewal application: Form RE. The current Act provides for renewal of copyright in works already in their first term of copyright on January 1, 1978. See 17 U.S.C. 304. Form RE is appropriate for all renewal registrations, regardless of the class in which the original registration was made.
704
Registration forms for special cases. In addition to the forms listed above, the Copyright Office has established two registration forms for use in special cases.
704.01
Form CA: Supplementary Registration. This form is used to apply for supplementary registration under section 408(d) of the current Act, in order to correct an error in a copyright registration or to amplify the information given in a registration. See Chapter 1500: CORRECTIONS AND AMPLIFICATIONS OF COPYRIGHT OFFICE RECORDS: SUPPLEMENTARY REGISTRATIONS.
704.02
Form GR/CP: Group Registration for Contributions to Periodicals. This form is used as a adjunct to a basic application on Form TX, Form PA, or Form VA where the applicant is making a single registration under section 408(c)(2) of the current Act for a group of contributions to periodicals.
705
Import Statement. Section 601(b)(2) of the current Act permits the importation of 2000 copies of a foreign manufactured edition of a work consisting preponderantly of nondramatic literary material that is in the English language and is protected under the current Act, upon presentation to the United States Customs Service of an Import Statement. See Chapter 1200: MANUFACTURING PROVISIONS.
705.01
Form IS: Request for Issuance of an Import Statement. This form implements the statutory provisons prescribing an Import Statement. Copyright owners of works that are subject to the manufacturing restrictions must use this form to secure issuance of an Import Statement.
706
Submission of material. In order to consider registration of a claim to copyright, the Copyright Office should receive a completed application form together with the required fee and deposit. The application should contain the required information and be duly certified. Incomplete, inaccurate, or illegible applications may delay the registration process.
707
Quality and legibility of application forms. Application forms accepted for registration become permanent parts of the official records of the Copyright Office and must meet archival standards and be legible.
707.01
Only application forms issued by the Copyright Off1ce may be used. Copyright Office forms meet strict archival standards: therefore, only forms issued by the Office may be used to make registration. Photocopies or other reproductions of Copyright Office forms cannot be accepted for registration.
707.02
Information given on the application form should be typewritten or legibly printed in black ink. Information required by the forms must be legible and should be typewritten or printed in black ink. Applicants who anticipate filing a large number of applications may place certain repetitive information on the application forms they submit by using a printing process. Carbons of applications or applications completed in pencil are generally not acceptable.
708
Selection of most appropriate application form. The appropriate form is generally determined by the nature of the authorship in which copyright is claimed. For most works, one form will clearly be the most appropriate.
708.01
Nature of authorship determinative. The nature of the authorship determines which application form should be used for registration rather than the material object in which the work is embodied.
Example:
A filmstrip or set of slides containing only text should be registered on Form TX, not on Form PA.
708.02
Two forms seem appropriate: song lyrics, speeches, and other works prepared for oral delivery. For song lyrics, speeches, and other works prepared for oral delivery, two forms appear to be appropriate because the nature of authorship is literary and because the work was prepared for the purpose of performance. Although the Copyright Office will accept either Form PA or TX, Form PA is more appropriate.
708.03
Contributions to collective works. In the case of contributions to collective works, applications should be submitted in the class representing the copyrightable authorship in the contribution.
Examples:
1)
A pictorial cartoon published in a weekly magazine should be registered on Form VA.
2)
A short story published in a monthly magazine should be registered on Form TX.
708.04
Derivative works. In the case of derivative works, applications should be submitted in the class most appropriately representing the copyrightable authorship involved in recasting, transforming, adapting, or otherwise modifying the preexisting work.
Example:
A motion picture version of a previously published novel should be registered on Form PA.
708.05
Works in which the claim includes two or more categories of authorship. For works in which the claim includes copyrightable material in two or more classes, the type of such material that predominates generally determines the class for registration.
Example:
A game contains pictorial material on a game board, sculptural authorship in game pieces, and textual authorship in the game instructions. If the pictorial and sculptural authorship predominates, Form VA should be used. If the textual material predominates, Form TX should be used.
NOTE: As an exception, where the claim includes sound recording authorship, Form SR must be used regardless of the nature of the other material or which type of authorship predominates. See section 702.05 above.
Examples:
1)
A kit consisting of a booklet and a cassette tape with a claim in text and sound recording must be registered on Form SR.
2)
A phonorecord with a claim in words, music, and sound recording must be registered on Form SR.
709
Classification for administrative purposes only. The current Act specifies that the classification system adopted by the Copyright Office is solely for administrative purposes and has no significance with respect to the subject matter of copyright or the exclusive rights under the current Act. See 17 U.S.C. 408(c}(1}. However, the Copyright Office may request submission of a new application in the correct class where registration was originally sought on an inappropriate form.
[Numbers 710 through 749 are reserved].
750
Fees. The fees for registration, recordation, and certain other services are prescribed or authorized by the current Act. See 17 U.S.C. 708(a).
750.01
Applicability of fees to U.S. Government. The fees prescribed or authorized by the current Act are also applicable to the United states Government and any of its agencies, employees, or officers; however, the law specifies that the Register of Copyrights has discretion to waive this requirement in occasional or isolated cases involving relatively small amounts. See 17 U.S.C. 708(b).
750.02
Refunds. Money remitted to the Copyright Office for original, basic, supplementary, or renewal registration will not be refunded if the claim is rejected because the material deposited does not constitute copyrightable subject matter or because the claim is invalid for any other reason. Payments made by mistake or in excess of the statutory fee will be refunded, but amounts of $5 or less will not be refunded unless specifically requested, and refunds of less than $1 may be made in postage stamps. 37 C.F.R. 201.6(c).
751
Effective date of fee schedule under the current Act. Applications for copyright registration and requests for other fee services of the Copyright Office received on or after January 1, 1978, are governed by the fee schedule of the current Act. In cases where an application, deposit, and fee were received before January 1, 1978, but processing was not completed until after January 1, 1978, the fees established in accordance with title 17 as it existed on December 31, 1977, shall apply. See section 109, Transitional and Supplementary Provisions of the current Act.
752
Submission of registration fees. Registration fees should be submitted in the same envelope or package with the application and deposit. With regard to fees submitted to establish or replenish Deposit Accounts, see section 754 below.
753
Form of payment. The Copyright Office urges that all remittances mailed to it be in the form of a check, money order, or bank draft, payable to REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS.
753.01
Currency. The Copyright Office will accept currency but does not assume any responsibility for monies sent in payment of fees which are lost before receipt in the Copyright Office.
753.02
Fees remitted from outside the United states or made payable in foreign currency. The Copyright Office does not accept checks drawn on foreign banks or made payable in foreign currencies. Foreign remittances must be in the form of an International Money Order or Bank Draft payable in United States dollars.
754
Deposit Accounts. The Copyright Office maintains a system of Deposit Accounts for the convenience of those who frequently use the services of the Office. The system allows an individual or firm to establish a Deposit Account in the Copyright Office and to make advance deposits into the Account. Charges for registration, recordation, or other fee services will be deducted from the outstanding balances in such Accounts.
754.01
Minimum requirements for Deposit Accounts. The following are the minimum requirements for establishing and maintaining a Deposit Account in the Copyright Office:
1)
When the Account is opened, the initial deposit must amount to at least $250.
2)
The Deposit Account holder must maintain a sufficient balance to cover all charges against the Account.
3)
There must be at least 12 transactions a year.
4)
If fees are to be charged against a Deposit Account, the exact name and number of the Account should be given on all applications for registration or other requests for fee services.
5)
All later deposits into the Account must also be $250 or more.
755
Cancellation of registration in cases of dishonored checks. When a check received in payment of the registration fee is returned to the Copyright Office marked "insufficient funds" or is otherwise marked uncollectible, the Copyright Office will cancel any registration for which the dishonored check was submitted: the Office will notify the applicant in writing that the check was returned to the Copyright Office as uncollectible, that the registration has been cancelled, and that the certificate of registration should be returned to the Copyright Office. When a
registration is cancelled, appropriate notations are placed in the original record to show that the registration has been cancelled.
756
Fees not specified in section 708 of the current Act. Certain fees for copyright Office services under the Freedom of Information Act and the privacy Act are not established in title 17, U.S.C. See 37 C.F.R. 203.6 and 204.6.
