Compendium of US Copyright Office Practices (1973)/Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Assignments and Related Documents
Outline of Topics
Chapter 12. ASSIGNNENTS AND RELATED DOCUMENTS
Part 12.1 IN GENERAL
Where appropriate, the Copyright Office may point out the assignment provisions of the
law and suggest the desirability of recording an instrument.Part 12.2 TRUE NATURE OF THE DOCUMENT
12.2.2
An assignment of rights in
a trade-mark or patent.Part 12.3 FORMAL SUFFICIENCY OF THE DOCUMENT
If several assignors are identified in the body of the document, and spaces have been
provided for all their signatures, the document will be questioned if any of the signatures are missing, unless an additional copy of the document containing the missing signatures is submitted for recordation at the same time. With respect to assignors, each such document is indexed only under the particular signatures it contains.12.3.3
12.3.3
The signature need not be legible or include the full name of the assignor, as long as the
name is sufficiently identified elsewhere in the document, but initials or a monogram would not generally be regarded as a signature.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.Date not required. While the document need not include copyright data or bibliographic information, it should contain a reasonably precise identification of the subject matter with which it
deals.".. copyright in ___________
is hereby assigned ..." (space left blank through oversight)12.3.5
An abbreviated or entirely different title, or a different descriptive phrase, may be
employed.Example. A document purporting to be an assignment should contain words to the effect that copyright is presently being conveyed (e.g., "I,
Horaoe C. Rucksack, do hereby assign, sell, transfer, grant, and convey copyright in 'Old Rag, I Love You,' to the Sperryville Literary Society, Inc."A letter from an author indicating that "the publisher has agreed to assign the
copyright to me."12.3.7
"In accordance with the terms of a mutual undertaking previously entered into be
between the parties on May 29, 1957, which is incorporated by reference herewith, Flyod C. Willoware herby, transfers ..."As a rule no attempt is made to verity the facts stated in a document submitted for recordation; titles, registration numbers. authors, dates,
etc, are transcribed without checking their accuracy.When an obvious error of a material nature is recognised in the ordinary examination of the document, the paper is returned for correction; in such
cases, the Copyright Office will suggest the desirability of having any changes in the executed document initialled by all parties.If a document appears to be an assignment which has been executed abroad, and which does not contain a consular certificate of acknowledgment of the assignor's signature, the document will be held and the provisions of section 29 will be called to the attention of the sender.
Recordation of foreign documents which are clearly not assignments will be made without
reference to section 29, but where the nature of the document is unclear, the provisions of that section may be xalled to the attention of the sender.Part 12.4 DOCUMENTS AMENDING COPYRIGHT OFFICE RECORDS
If executed abroad, it should preferably be accompanied by a consular certificate of
acknowledgment.The original certificate of registration should be relinquished to the Copyright
Office at the time of recordation.Following recordation of a document intended to correct an error in a copyright registration, an annotation referring to the volume and page
numbers of the recorded document is added to the entry; the original catalog cards covering the registration are annotated.Part 12.5 RECORDATION
In general. The recordation process involves initial examination of documents for formal sufficiency, determination of the recording fee, assigning volume and page numbers, preparation of index cards under the appropriate names, titles, numbers, dates, etc., microfilming, checking the completed microfilm record,
and mailing the recorded document.Date of recordation. The date of recordation for a particular document is the date the last necessary element (acceptable document and required fee) is received. When a document is returned to the sender for correction, the date it is returned in corrected form is regarded as the date of recordation. When the fee, or part
of the fee, is received after receipt of the document, the date of receipt of the amount making up the total fee is the date of recordation.12.5.3
12.5.5.
--'.'Ferlin Husky Fan Club News," vol. 1, no. J, June, 1957
-"Trapped in the Snack Bar," Installment I
--RONDO (Respighi)
--"Combination Waffle Iron and Pants Presser (side view)"
--"The Romance of Searching," a fantasy by D. F. Queens
In cases where, despite separate listings of the title, only one fee would
normally be charged, the Copyright Office will make separate index cards under the various listings, upon the speoific request of the sender and payment of separate fifty-cent fees.