terms set forth in Sections 621.8(C), or any combination of those terms, unless the statement provided in the New Material Included field or space 6(b) is contradicted by information provided elsewhere in the registration materials. For examples of terms that may be considered unclear, see Sections 618.8(A)(1) through 618.8(A)(10).
As discussed in Section 621.8(C), the New Material Included field in the online application or space 6(b) of the paper application should identify all of the copyrightable authorship that the applicant intends to register. As discussed in Sections 621.8(A) and 621.8(C), the statement provided in the Author Created field should be identical to the statement provided in the New Material Included field (if any). Likewise, the statement provided in space 2 should be identical to the statement provided in space 6(b) (if any).
If there is a discrepancy between the statements provided in the Author Created/New Material Included fields or in spaces 2 and 6(b), or if the deposit copy(ies) contain an appreciable amount of copyrightable authorship that is mentioned in one portion of the application but not the other, the registration specialist may register the claim if the statements are consistent with each other and if the claim is clear based on the registration materials as a whole. If there is a conflict between these statements or if the extent of the claim is unclear, the registration specialist will communicate with the applicant.
621.9(D) Claim Clarified by Information Provided Elsewhere in the Registration Materials
As a general rule, if the work appears to contain an appreciable amount of unclaimable material and if the applicant fails to complete the New Material Included and/or Material Excluded fields in an online application, or fails to complete spaces 5 and/or 6(a) and/or 6(b) on a paper application, the registration specialist may register the work if the claim is clearly limited by information provided in the application or elsewhere in the registration materials. If so, the specialist may amend the application and/or add an annotation to the registration record to clarify the extent of the claim. However, if this information is not provided in the application itself, the specialist may communicate with the applicant.
621.9(D)(1) Claim Clearly Defined by the Title of the Work
If the extent of the claim is clearly defined by the title provided in the application or the title given on the deposit copy(ies), the registration specialist may register the claim, even if the applicant failed to complete the Limitation of Claim screen in the online application or spaces 6(a) and/or 6(b) in a paper application.
Examples:
- An online application is submitted for a work titled Industrial Training Guide, 15th Edition, with a copyright notice dated 1990–2005. In the Author Created/New Material Included fields the applicant asserts a claim in “text.” In the Material Excluded/Other field the applicant disclaims the “previously published text.” The registration specialist may register the claim.
