2122.1(C) Released Only in a Phonorecord
Under the Copyright Act of 1909, releasing a sound recording on a phonorecord did not constitute publication of the recorded musical work or song; however, such works were often registered as unpublished works to secure federal statutory protection. When the U.S. Copyright Office receives a claim in a musical work that was released in a recording before 1978 and it seems likely that the author or copyright owner would have registered the work to secure statutory protection when the recording was released, the Office may advise the applicant to request a search of the records before proceeding with registration. For more information on searching Office records, see Circular 22, How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work 2 and Circular 23, The Copyright Card Catalog and the Online Files of the Copyright Office.
Exception: When the lyrics of a song were printed on an album cover or insert, the lyrics were considered to be published as of the release date of the album. In such cases, the lyrics must be registered separately from the music, based on the facts of first publication, and renewal registration depends on whether the album contained the statutory or U.C.C. notice for visually perceptible authorship.
2122.1(D) Made Available Only in Rental Score
Lease or rental of copies generally was regarded as publication under the Copyright Act of 1909 unless the distribution was to a limited group or for a restricted purpose. Therefore, when a musical work was made available in rental scores, renewal registration may be appropriate depending on the scope of distribution and restrictions placed on its use. The U.S. Copyright Office generally will register a renewal claim when the applicant asserts publication.
2122.1(E) Notice Requirements
The notice for a musical work or song should contain the word "copyright," the abbreviation "Copr.," or the symbol ©, the year in which copyright was secured and the name of the copyright proprietor and be placed either "upon its title page or the first page of music." Copyright Act of 1909, Pub. L. No. 60-349, §§ 19-20, 35 Stat. 1075, 1079- 80 (1909). For lyrics published on an album cover or insert, the copyright notice should be placed on the cover or insert or near the title of the song. For musical works first published in a motion picture, the separate copyright notice should appear within the credits. For more information about copyright notice requirements, see U.S. Copyright Office, Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices Chs. 4, 8.2, & Supplementary Practice Nos. 18, 19, 27, 29, 35 & 37 (1st ed. 1973), available
at http:/ / copyright.gov/ comp3 / chap2 1 00/ doc/appendixA-noticerequirements.pdf.
2122.2 Dramatic Works
This class of works was registered for the original term under class D, as both published and unpublished works and, since 1978, in class PA. For renewal registration purposes, these works are generally considered to be unitary works; therefore a renewal claim should generally name all of the authors who contributed to the work as a whole.
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