- was published in 2013. A statement on the deposit copies indicates that the author died in 2009. The registration specialist may communicate with the applicant to request the author’s year of death.
- An application is submitted for a book of cartoons featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and other characters from the “Peanuts” comic strip. The application names Charles Schulz as the author of the work and states that the work was published in 2013. The registration specialist is aware that Mr. Schulz is deceased. Therefore, he or she will communicate with the applicant to request the author’s year of death.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to provide the author’s year of death if the work was created by a human being and if the work is being registered as an anonymous or pseudonymous work. The Office will accept an application if the applicant fails to provide this information, because the term of copyright for an anonymous or pseudonymous work may be calculated based on the year the work was created or the year the work was published. 17 U.S.C. § 302(c). Providing the author’s year of death is useful, because if the author’s real name is revealed in records maintained by the Office, the term of copyright will be calculated based on the year of the author’s death, rather than the year of creation or publication. Id.; see also, H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476, at 137 (1976), reprinted in 1976 U.S.C.C.A.N. 5659, 5753.
By contrast, the applicant should not provide the author’s year of death if the work is being registered as a work made for hire. The year of death is not required in this situation, because the term of copyright for a work made for hire is based on the year the work was created or the year the work was published.
For a definition and discussion of anonymous works and pseudonymous works, see Sections 615.1 and 615.2. For a definition and discussion of works made for hire, see Chapter 500, Section 506.
616.3 Completing the Application: Author’s Year of Birth and Death
If the applicant chooses to provide the author’s year of birth in an online application, the applicant should provide only the author’s birth year. The online system will not accept an entry that contains the month, day, and year that the author was born. Likewise, if the author is deceased, the applicant should list only the year the author died, rather than the month, day, and year of the author’s death.
If the applicant chooses to provide the author’s year of birth in a paper application, the applicant should enter only the author’s birth year in the space marked Year Born. If the applicant gives the month, day, and year of birth, the certificate of registration and online record will reflect only the year of birth. If the author is deceased, the applicant should list only the author’s year of death in the space marked Year Died. If the applicant gives the month, day, and year of death, the certificate of registration and online record will reflect only the year of death.
