previously entered into between the parties on January 2, 2008, which are incorporated by reference herein, the assignor hereby assigns the copyright in the musical composition to the assignee." The recordation specialist will record the assignment without communicating with the remitter.
2309.9(D) Failure to Identify the Work
The Office will record a transfer or other document pertaining to copyright, even if it does not identify the work that is the subject of the transaction. In this situation, the recordation specialist will record the document without communicating with the remitter, but will add an annotation to the record, such as: "No titles given."
Although the document will be recorded, the recordation may not provide constructive notice of the facts stated in the document. As discussed in Section 2309.3(A), a recordation provides constructive notice only if the work has been registered and if "the document or the materials attached to it, specifically identifies the work to which it pertains so that, after the document is indexed by the Register of Copyrights, it would be revealed by a reasonable search under the title or registration number of the work." 17 U.S.C.§ 205(c).
Example:
• The Office receives an exclusive license involving "an unpublished novel about New York's Empire State Building, by Jack Douglas." The recordation specialist will record the license with an annotation, such as: "No titles given." Because the license does not identify the title of the work, the recordation may not provide constructive notice of the facts stated in the document.
2309.9(E) Redacted Documents
The Office has adopted an interim practice that allows a remitter to record a redacted document provided that the following conditions have been met:
• The remitter must satisfy the recordation requirements specified in Section 2309.7.
• The blank or blocked out portions of the document must be initialed or labeled "redacted" (regardless of whether the redactions appear in the document itself or the attachments thereto).
• Each page of the document must be accounted for.
The remitter may redact an entire page of a transfer or other document pertaining to copyright, provided that the page contains a brief statement indicating that the entire page has been redacted and provided that the page numbers for the entire document (if any) remain visible. If pages appear to be missing, the recordation specialist will return the document to the remitter and explain that the completeness requirement has not been met.
Chapter 2300 : 26
12/22/2014
