Examples:
- An online application is submitted naming Joan Dolan as the author of a book of poetry for teenagers and naming “Joan Dolan (Dolan Publishing Company, Inc.)” as the copyright claimant. The transfer statement reads “author is sole owner of Dolan Publishing.” Because an individual and a corporation are separate legal entities, the specialist will communicate with the applicant to determine whether Joan or Dolan Publishing own the copyright in this work.
- A paper application is submitted naming Adelaide Drescher as the author of “2-D artwork” and naming “Adelaide Drescher d.b.a. Adelaide Dree AG” as the copyright claimant. No transfer statement is provided. Because an individual and a corporate organization are separate legal entities, the registration specialist may communicate with the applicant to determine whether Adelaide or Adelaide Dree AG owns the copyright in this work.
619.13(I) Partnership Named as Claimant
Typically, a partnership is an unincorporated business that is owned by two or more individuals. A partnership necessarily requires a written agreement stipulating that the partners are co-owners of any properly held by the partnership, and works created by one of the partners are often considered the property of the partnership as a whole. Therefore, if an application names a partnership as the claimant without providing a transfer statement explaining how the partnership obtained ownership of the copyright, the application may be accepted if it is clear that at least one of the authors is a member of that partnership.
Example:
- An application is submitted for a song that names Jim Chapman, Jake Brody, and Jessie Adams as co-authors of music and lyrics. The application names “The Three J’s, a partnership” as the copyright claimant. The registration specialist may register the claim without communicating with the applicant, because it appears that the authors of this work are members of the partnership.
619.13(J) Trust or Estate Named as Claimant
An application that names a trust or estate in the Name of Claimant field/space may be accepted, provided that the claimant is identified with one or more of the following terms, which indicate that the claimant is a legal owner or beneficial owner of the copyright:
- Administrator
- Administrator on behalf of ______
- Beneficiary
- Estate
- Executor
