§ 409. — Application for copyright registration.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 17USC409]
TITLE 17--COPYRIGHTS
CHAPTER 4--COPYRIGHT NOTICE, DEPOSIT, AND REGISTRATION
Sec. 409. Application for copyright registration
The application for copyright registration shall be made on a form
prescribed by the Register of Copyrights and 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 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
domicile of the author or authors;
(4) in the case of a work made for hire, a statement to this
effect;
(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 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.
If an application is submitted for the renewed and extended term
provided for in section 304(a)(3)(A) and an original term registration
has not been made, the Register may request information with respect to
the existence, ownership, or duration of the copyright for the original
term.
(Pub. L. 94-553, title I, Sec. 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2582; Pub.
L. 102-307, title I, Sec. 102(b)(1), June 26, 1992, 106 Stat. 266.)
Historical and Revision Notes
house report no. 94-1476
The various clauses of section 409, which specify the information to
be included in an application for copyright registration, are intended
to give the Register of Copyrights authority to elicit all of the
information needed to examine the application and to make a meaningful
record of registration. The list of enumerated items was not exhaustive;
under the last clause of the section the application may also include
``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.''
Among the enumerated items there are several that are not now
included in the Copyright Office's application forms, but will become
significant under the life-plus-50 term and other provisions of the
bill. Clause (5), reflecting the increased importance of the
interrelationship between registration of copyright claims and
recordation of transfers of ownership, requires a statement of how a
claimant who is not the author acquired ownership of the copyright.
Clause (9) requires that, ``in the case of a compilation or derivative
work'' the application include ``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.'' It is intended that, under this requirement, the
application covering a collection such as a song-book or hymnal would
clearly reveal any works in the collection that are in the public
domain, and the copyright status of all other previously-published
compositions. This information will be readily available in the
Copyright Office.
The catch-all clause at the end of the section will enable the
Register to obtain more specialized information, such as that bearing on
whether the work contains material that is a ``work of the United States
Government.'' In the case of works subject to the manufacturing
requirement, the application must also include information about the
manufacture of the copies.
Amendments
1992--Pub. L. 102-307 inserted at end ``If an application is
submitted for the renewed and extended term provided for in section
304(a)(3)(A) and an original term registration has not been made, the
Register may request information with respect to the existence,
ownership, or duration of the copyright for the original term.''
Effective Date of 1992 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 102-307 effective June 26, 1992, but applicable
only to copyrights secured between January 1, 1964, and December 31,
1977, and not affecting court proceedings pending on June 26, 1992, with
copyrights secured before January 1, 1964, governed by section 304(a) of
this title as in effect on the day before June 26, 1992, except each
reference to forty-seven years in such provisions deemed to be 67 years,
see section 102(g) of Pub. L. 102-307, as amended, set out as a note
under section 101 of this title.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 408, 506 of this title.
