official from the Registration Program will determine whether the Office will reopen the file and will notify the applicant in writing of the Office’s decision.
606 Warnings
If the U.S. Copyright Office determines that the deposit copy(ies) for a registrable work contain material that consists of uncopyrightable subject matter or that other legal or formal requirements have not been met, the Office may register the claim without corresponding with the applicant. However, the Office may send the applicant a written communication warning that the registration does not extend to the uncopyrightable subject matter or warning that some of the other legal or formal requirements have not been satisfied. Communications will be sent to the person specified in the Correspondent section of the application (or other designated party, if any). The registration specialist will place a copy of the communication in the registration record, and the certificate of registration and the online public record will indicate the presence of correspondence in the file.
Examples:
- A professional graphic artist submitted an application to register a portfolio containing seventy-five logo designs. Some of the designs are familiar symbols, such as a stop sign, a five pointed star, or a happy face. The registration specialist may send a warning advising the applicant that some of the designs within the portfolio are not copyrightable.
- Pharaoh Studios submits an application to register an unpublished collection containing dozens of rings, earrings, and bracelets. Some of the items in the collection contain a sufficient amount of original authorship in the shape and arrangement of their constituent elements, but most of them do not. The registration specialist may register the claim, but may send a warning advising the applicant that most of the items in the collection do not support an independent claim to copyright.
607 Registration Made Under the Rule of Doubt
The U.S. Copyright Office has the exclusive authority to issue certificates of registration establishing the prima facie validity of the facts stated in the certificate. 17 U.S.C. § 410(a), (c). On occasion, the Office may register a claim to copyright, even though the Office has reasonable doubt as to whether the material submitted for registration constitutes copyrightable subject matter or whether the other legal and formal requirements of the statute have been met. This practice is known as the Rule of Doubt.
The Rule of Doubt notifies the claimant, the courts, and the general public that the Office is unwilling to grant a presumption of validity to certain aspects of the claim. As a general rule, the Office will apply the Rule of Doubt only in the following situations.
The Office may register a claim under the Rule of Doubt if the registration specialist is unable to examine the deposit copy(ies) to determine if the work contains copyrightable
