organization or an employer, the party is referred to as a proprietary author, and the work is considered to be a proprietary work.
In addition to identifying the author, this space of Form RE provides information regarding an author's nationality and domicile, year of death, and contribution to certain classes of works when this information is required to make a complete and accurate renewal registration record. 13
2115.4(A) Full Legal Name or as Given in the Original Registration Record
Generally, Form RE should provide the full legal name(s) of the author(s) at the time of creation or, if the work was registered for the original term, the namesfs] as given in the original registration record.
For an exception to this rule, see Section 2119.2.
2115.4(A)(1) Pseudonymous and Anonymous Works
When a work is pseudonymous or anonymous, the legal name of the individual author is not required, unless it was provided in the original registration record. 14 If the pseudonym was provided in the original registration record, it should be given and identified as such in the renewal registration record. When a pseudonymous or anonymous work was not registered for the original term, the nationality and domicile of the author at the time of first publication is required to establish eligibility. In addition, the author of a pseudonymous work must be identified by providing the author's legal name, the author's pseudonym, or both.
NOTE: While the legal name of the author is not required for pseudonymous or anonymous works, by identifying the individual author the certificate of renewal registration and renewal registration record provides the critical fact that determines the party in whom the renewal copyright vested.
13 Providing the nationality and domicile for the author of such works represents a policy change that took effect in 2014 with the amendment of Form RE.
14 This provision represents a change of policy that occurred with the publication of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Third Edition. Previously, the U.S. Copyright Office required the legal name of at least one author to establish eligibility.
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