For further discussion of this issue, see Section 619.6 and Chapter 400, Section 405.
624.2(B) Application Certified by a Party That Owns All the Rights under Copyright That Initially Belonged to the Author or That Party’s Duly Authorized Agent
If a party owns all the rights under copyright that initially belonged to the author and if the work has not been registered before, that party may be named in the application as the copyright claimant. In this situation, the application to register that claim should be certified by that party or that party’s duly authorized agent.
In the alternative, the author may be named as the copyright claimant and the application may be certified by the author or the author’s duly authorized agent, even if the author has transferred all of the rights to another party, and even if the author does not own any of the rights at the time the application is filed.
For further discussion of this issue, see Sections 619.7 and 619.8, and Chapter 400, Sections 405 and 406.
624.2(C) Application Certified by an Owner of One or More – but Less than All – of the Exclusive Rights or That Party’s Duly Authorized Agent
If the author has assigned one or more – but less than all – of the rights in the work to another party, then the author should be named as the copyright claimant. In this situation, the application to register the claim may be certified by the author, the transferee, or their respective agents.
In the event the author assigned all of his or her rights under copyright to a third party and that transferee, in turn, assigned some – but not all – of those rights to an exclusive licensee, the author should be named as the copyright claimant. However, the author, the transferee, the exclusive licensee, or their respective agents may certify and submit an application to register the work with the U.S. Copyright Office.
For further discussion of this issue, see Section 619.7 and 619.9 and Chapter 400, Sections 405 and 407.
See Registration of Copyright: Definition of Claimant, 77 Fed. Reg. 29,257, 29,259 (May 17, 2012).
624.3 Completing the Application: Certification
624.3(A) Online Applications
When completing an online application, the applicant will be asked to certify the application on the Certification screen. Specifically, the applicant should provide the first and last name of the individual who is certifying the application in the space marked Name of Certifying Individual and should check the box that reads “I certify that I am the author, copyright claimant, or owner of exclusive rights, or the authorized agent of the author, copyright claimant, or owner of exclusive rights of this work and that the information given in this application is correct to the best of my knowledge.” 37
