If the author transferred rights to another party, an application to register the copyright in the author’s name may be certified and submitted by any of the following parties:
- The author.
- An owner of all the rights under copyright that initially belonged to the author.
- An owner of one or more – but less than all – of the exclusive rights that initially belonged to the author.
- A duly authorized agent of any of the foregoing parties.
In this situation, the author is considered the claimant, and the party who certified and submitted the application is considered the applicant.
619.8 Naming a Transferee as Claimant
If a person or organization owns all the rights under copyright that initially belonged to the author, that party may be named in the application as the copyright claimant. An application to register the copyright in that party’s name may be certified and submitted by the author, the transferee, or their respective agents. In this situation, the transferee is considered the claimant, and the author, the transferee, or their respective agents are considered the applicant (depending on who certified and submitted the application).
619.9 A Party That Owns One or More – but Less than All – of the Exclusive Rights May File an Application to Register a Copyright Claim, but Cannot Be Named as the Copyright Claimant
A party that owns one or more – but less than all – of the rights that initially belonged to the author cannot register the copyright in that party’s own name (i.e., naming itself as the claimant). However, that party may certify and submit an application to register the copyright in the author’s name. In this situation, the author is considered the claimant, and the party that owns one or more of the exclusive rights is considered the applicant. See Registration of Copyright: Definition of Claimant, 77 Fed. Reg. at 29,258. Although that party cannot be named as the copyright claimant, it may identify itself in the public record by recording the transfer or other document pertaining to copyright that transferred the exclusive rights from the author or the author’s successor(s) in interest to that party. Id. at n.1.
619.10 A Nonexclusive Licensee Cannot Be a Claimant
A nonexclusive licensee is not entitled to register a copyright in the licensee’s own name, because by definition, a nonexclusive licensee does not own the entire copyright in the work.
As a general rule, a nonexclusive licensee is not entitled to file a copyright application, because a nonexclusive licensee is neither the “copyright owner or [an owner] of any exclusive right in the work.” 17 U.S.C. § 408(a) (specifying the parties who “may obtain registration of the copyright claim”). A nonexclusive licensee may sign or submit an application to register the copyright only if the licensee is a duly authorized agent acting
