Ch. 11
11.8.4
11.8.4
11-24
11.8.4
Corporate claimant. In the Case of a "work copyrighted by a corporate body otherwise than as assignee or licensee of the author" the statute gives the proprietor the right to claim renewal.
I.
Questionable claim. This basis of claim is always questioned unless it has been established by previous correspondence.
II.
When not acceptable. This basis of claim is not acceptable when:
a.
The original copyright claimant was not a corporation.
b.
The individual author of an unpublished work transferred his common law literary property, or his right to secure copyright, to a corporation.
1.
The corporation is regarded as the author's assignee.
2.
The fact that the corporation also purchased the author's manuscript does not change its
status as assignee.c.
The work is posthumous or composite, was made for hire, or is a print or label for which registration was made in the Patent Office.
III.
Special circumstances. In cases other than those listed in item 11.8.4, II, above, registration on this basis will be strongly discouraged and will be made only when the applicant indicates that there were special circumstances under which the claim might conceivably be said to apply.
Examples:
(1)
Works to which the stockholders of a corporation have contributed indistinguishable parts.
(2)
Works written or created by members of a religious order or similar organization, when the individual authors never had a personal property right in the works.
(3)
Works written by an official or major stockholder in a corporation, when the works were written directly for the corporation and the arrangement did not amount to employment for hire.
(4)
Motion pictures, when the applicant asserts that the work was produced under special circumstances and was not copyrighted by an employer for whom the work was made for hire.
