extent of a renewal claim in a published collection 31 as a whole depends on the statutory basis of the renewal claim.
Generally, when the published collection is a personal work the renewal claim cannot extend beyond the authorship contributed by the individual author, regardless of the extent of the original registration record. Likewise, when the renewal copyright is claimed on the basis that the work is a posthumous work, a work made for hire, or a work copyrighted by a corporate body other than as an assignee or licensee, the renewal claim cannot extend beyond the material that was published posthumously, or created as a work made for hire, or copyrighted by the corporate body.
Generally, when the published collection is a composite work, the renewal claim may extend to the entire work. In such cases, however, the U.S. Copyright Office may request examining material or additional information to determine whether the extent and the statutory basis of the renewal claim are appropriate.
Exception: When the contributions first published in a collection bear separate copyright notices, renewal registration for the published collection does not extend to the contributions, regardless of the statutory basis of the renewal claim, and even when the renewal copyrights in the contributions and the published collection as a whole vested in the same party on the same date. In such cases, renewal registration for the collection should be limited to the compilation or editorial authorship. For more information about registration of a contribution first published with a separate notice, see Section 2127.
To be registered for the renewal term on the statutory basis of being a composite work, a published collection must be a literary work having separate, distinct contributions by a number of authors on a variety of subjects. For example, a proprietor may claim the renewal copyright in a periodical or encyclopedia having separate, distinct contributions by various authors, or in an anthology of poetry by a number of authors
31 While the Copyright Act of 1909 and Office regulations did not refer to or define "collective work," many nondramatic literary works published before 1978 were registered for the original term as "collective works" between 1978 and 2005. In addition, the term has been generally used for renewal registration purposes to describe published works in which an individual author may claim the renewal copyright in a contribution separate from the collection as a whole, as in "contribution to a collective work." Recently, however, the Office has determined that the term "collective work" is not applicable to renewal registration. Therefore, the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Practices, Third Edition uses the term "published collection" to refer to published works that are collective, rather than unitary, in nature.
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