Examples:
- John Thomas submits an online application for a musical work. The title provided in the application is Born in the Phillipines, but the phonorecords submitted with the application give the title as Born in the Philippines. If the application is otherwise acceptable, the registration specialist will register the claim without communicating with the applicant, but may include the alternative spelling in the online public record in the field marked Title.
- Eva Villagros Gutierrez submits an online application for a screenplay, providing her full name in the Name of Author field. The deposit copy identifies the author as "Eva Villagros." The registration specialist will register the claim without communicating with the applicant, but may include the shortened form of the author’s name in the online public record.
- An online application names “Small World Fabrics Inc.” as the author of a fabric design. The deposit copy identifies the author as “Small World Fabrics Incorporated.” The registration specialist will register the claim without communicating with the applicant or annotating the registration record.
603.2 Material Variances Resolvable on Review of the Registration Materials as a Whole
A material variance is a variance that substantially affects the required information that should be included in the application, or any of the essential issues that should be resolved before the U.S. Copyright Office may complete a registration. In some cases, the inconsistency may be clearly and readily resolved by the registration specialist without communicating with the applicant based on the specialist’s review of the registration materials as a whole. If so, the specialist may correct a material variance by amending the registration record and/or by adding an annotation to the registration record.
603.2(A) Material Variances That May Be Resolved by Amending the Registration Record without Annotating or Communicating with the Applicant
If a material variance may be clearly resolved by reviewing the registration materials as a whole or by reviewing other U.S. Copyright Office records, the registration specialist may amend the information in the registration record without communicating with the applicant. As a general rule, if all of the required information appears in the application itself (as opposed to elsewhere in the registration materials, including the deposit copy(ies), a cover letter, or the Note to Copyright Office field), the specialist will not annotate the registration record to indicate that the application was revised.
Examples:
- The Office receives applications to register ten fabric designs. The application for “Design No. 8” names Chelsea’s Fabric Hose as the author and claimant. The name Chelsea’s Fabric House appears in
