case, the registration will cover the text, photographs, or other copyrightable content that appeared on the website on the date specified in the application and the deposit copies.
The Office will register multiple versions of a published work, provided that each version contains a sufficient amount of copyrightable authorship that does not appear in the other versions. When submitting multiple versions of a published work for registration, the applicant should notify the Office by providing the title for each version, and if possible, the case number / service request number that has been assigned to each claim. In addition, the applicant should confirm in writing that the version specified in the application contains copyrightable authorship that does not appear in other versions. When filing an online application this information should be provided in the Note to Copyright Office field. When filing a paper application this information should be provided in a cover letter. This improves the efficiency of the examination process and produces more consistent registration decisions.
The applicant—not the U.S. Copyright Office—should identify the specific version or versions that the applicant intends to register. In making this determination, it may be helpful to consider the following questions:
- Does one version contain all of the copyrightable material that appears in the other versions of the same work?
- Were the versions published on the same date or on different dates?
These topics are discussed in Sections 512.2(A) through 512.2(C) below.
512.2(A) Registering Multiple Versions of a Published Work: More Complete Version Published First
If one version contains all the copyrightable material that appears in other versions of the same work and if that version was published first, the applicant should submit the most complete version. In this situation, the applicant should not submit an application to register other versions of the same work.
Example:
- The Elmwood Avenue Press published two versions of an elementary school textbook. The teacher’s edition contains all the text and artwork that appears in the student’s edition, plus additional instructions, questions, answers, and commentary. The teacher’s edition was published on January 22, 2010 and the student’s edition was published on February 1, 2010. The publisher may register the teacher’s edition, but should not submit an application for the student’s edition.
