- nation of first publication. Because the author does not appear to be domiciled in the United States, the registration specialist will communicate with the applicant to determine if there is a basis for establishing that the work is eligible for copyright protection under U.S. law.
If the applicant provides the name of a city, state, and country in the Citizenship or Domicile field/space, the registration specialist may include the name of the state and/or country but will remove the name of the city from the registration record.
If the applicant provides the name of a city, state, territory, or other political subdivision rather than the name of a country, the application will be accepted if the author’s nation of citizenship or domicile is obvious or if there is another basis for establishing that the work is eligible for copyright protection under U.S. copyright law. For example, if the applicant states that the author is a citizen of “Puerto Rico” or “Scotland,” the specialist will accept the application, although “United States” or the “United Kingdom” would be preferable.
617.7(B) Citizenship and Domicile in Multiple Countries
If the application indicates that the author is a citizen of or domiciled in multiple countries, the names of the additional countries may be added to the registration record with an annotation, such as: “Regarding citizenship/domicile: application states Trinidad and the United States.”
617.7(C) Stateless Persons
If the application states “no place” in the Citizenship or Domicile field/space, the registration specialist will register the claim without communicating with the applicant on the assumption that the author is a stateless person. 17 U.S.C. § 104(b)(1).
617.7(D) Citizenship and Domicile Unknown
If the applicant states that the author’s citizenship or domicile is “not known” or fails to complete this portion of the application, the application may be accepted if that information is provided elsewhere in the registration materials or if the registration specialist determines that the work is otherwise eligible for copyright protection under U.S. copyright law.
Examples:
- An application is submitted on Form PA for a musical work titled “Do You See What I See?” The application states that the work has been published in New Zealand, states that Beth McFarlane is the author of the work, and states that the author’s citizenship and domicile is “not known.” The registration specialist will register the claim without communicating with the applicant. Although the applicant failed to specify the author’s nation of citizenship or domicile, the work is eligible for copyright protection under U.S. law
