- named the author as “Steven Kingsley (whose pseudonym is Rick Buchman).”
- An application is submitted for a poster containing artwork and text. The application names “Deacon of Chocolate City” as the author of the work and the Pseudonymous box is checked. Dennis Rickman is listed as the copyright claimant. The poster may be registered as a pseudonymous work, because the deposit copy states that the work was created by “Deacon of Chocolate City.” Because the applicant did not provide a transfer statement, the registration specialist will assume that Dennis Rickman is the author of this work and that he created this work under his pseudonym.
615.2(C) Name of the Author Omitted
As a general rule, if the applicant checks the Pseudonymous box but fails to provide the author’s pseudonym or the author’s real name in the Name of Author field/space, the registration specialist will communicate with the applicant. In the alternative, the specialist may add the name that appears on the deposit copy(ies) if that name is clearly identified as the author’s pseudonym.
615.3 Privacy Concerns
Because registration records are open to the public, an applicant should not disclose the author’s real name or address in an application for an anonymous or pseudonymous work if the author does not wish to make that information public. If the applicant discloses the author’s identity or the author’s address on the application, that information will appear on the certificate of registration. In addition, this information will appear in the online public record for the work, which may be accessed by anyone who searches for the work on the Office’s website. The Office will not remove the author’s name from the registration record once a certificate of registration has been issued.
For a general discussion of privacy issues, see Chapter 200, Section 205.
616 Year of Author’s Birth and Death
616.1 The Author’s Year of Birth
When completing an application to register a work with the U.S. Copyright Office, the applicant will be asked to identify the year that the author was born. This information may be useful in identifying the author of the work. Providing the author’s year of birth is optional and an application will be accepted even if this portion of the application is left blank.
If the applicant provides the author’s year of birth, the registration specialist will not question that date unless it is obviously wrong (e.g., the date of birth provided is the current year).
