Office. However, recording a document is not a substitute for registering a copyright claim, and registering a copyright claim is not a substitute for recording a document.
For a general overview of the practices and procedures for registering a claim to copyright, see Chapter 200.
2304 What Types of Documents May or Must Be Recorded with the U.S. Copyright Office?
2304.1 Documents That Must Be Recorded
The following types of documents must be recorded with the U.S. Copyright Office:
• Notices of termination.
• Security interests in registered works.
• Designation of agent to receive notifications of alleged infringement under Section 512(c) of the Copyright Act.
These types of documents are discussed in Sections 2304.1(A) through 2304.1(C) below.
2304.1(A) Notices of Termination
The Copyright Act allows authors or their heirs, under certain circumstances, to terminate an agreement that transferred or licensed the author's copyright to a third party. To terminate a grant, the author or the author's heirs, must serve an advance written "notice of termination" on the grantee or the grantee's successor-in-interest and must record a copy of that notice with the U.S. Copyright Office.
A notice of termination must be recorded before the effective date of termination specified in the notice. If a notice of termination is not recorded in a timely manner the notice will be invalid, meaning that "the agreement will continue according to its own terms" and "all rights covered by an existing grant will continue unchanged...." H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476, at 126, 128 (1976), reprinted in 1976 U.S.C.C.A.N. 5659, 5742, 5744.
For information concerning notices of termination and the procedure for recording these types of documents, see Section 2310.
2304.1(B) Security Interests in Registered Works
Some courts have held that a security interest in a registered work must be recorded with the U.S. Copyright Office as a condition for perfecting that interest.
For information concerning security interests and the procedure for recording these types of documents, see Section 2309.3(E).
Chapter 2300 : 10
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