618.8(A)(4) Author, Artist, Writer, Songwriter, and Other Professional Designations
As a general rule, the applicant should use one or more of the terms set forth in Section 618.4(C) to describe the copyrightable authorship that the applicant intends to register.
A term that merely describes the author or the author’s profession should not be used in the Author Created field or the Nature of Authorship space.
Example:
- Shane Banks is a professional songwriter. He submits an application for a ballad. In the Author Created field, he asserts a claim in “music, lyrics.” The registration specialist will register the claim.
If an applicant uses the term author, writer, songwriter, or the like in an application to register a literary work or a work of the performing arts, the registration specialist may register the claim if it is clear that the applicant is asserting a claim in text and/or lyrics. If the deposit copy(ies) contain another form of authorship, and if it is clear that the author(s) listed in the application created all of the copyrightable content that appears in the work, the specialist may add an annotation to clarify the content of the deposit.
Examples:
- An online application for a musical work is submitted naming Jody Silverman as the sole author of the work. The Author Created/Other field states “writer.” A statement on the deposit copy reads “music and lyrics by Jody Silverman.” Since the copy contains lyrics and an additional authorship element, the registration specialist may register the claim with an annotation to clarify the content of the deposit, such as: “Regarding author information: copy states music and lyrics by Jody Silverman.”
- A paper application is submitted on Form TX for an article naming Emily Gregor as the sole author of the work. The copy only contains text. The Nature of Authorship space reads “writer.” The specialist may conclude that the applicant is asserting a claim in the text and register the claim.
618.8(A)(5) Story, Story Idea, Story Concept, Story Line
As a general rule, the applicant should use one or more of the terms set forth in Section 618.4(C) to describe the copyrightable authorship that the applicant intends to register.
The applicant should not use the terms “story,” “story idea,” “story concept,” “story line,” or the like in the Author Created field or the Nature of Authorship space, because these terms do not clearly describe copyrightable authorship.
