on other grounds by Reed v. Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick, 559 U.S. 154 (2010). In this situation, there is no need to identify the component works in the application, although the applicant may do so by checking the box marked “contribution to a collective work (e.g. an article)” in the Author Created field or by providing a similar statement in the Nature of Authorship space.
If the serial and the component works were created by different authors, but the claimant in the serial owns all rights in the component works, the applicant should identify the author of each component included within the claim. The applicant may assert a claim in each component by checking the box marked “contribution to a collective work (e.g. an article)” in the Author Created field or by providing a similar statement in the Nature of Authorship space. In the alternative, the applicant may describe the specific form of authorship that appears in each component, such as “text,” “photographs,” or “artwork.” In all cases, the applicant should provide a transfer statement explaining how the claimant obtained the copyright in each component. For guidance on completing this portion of the application, see Chapter 600, Section 620.9(A).
If the serial contains a substantial amount of previously published material, previously registered material, public domain material, or material that is not owned by the copyright claimant, the applicant should exclude that material from the claim using the procedure described in Chapter 600, Section 621.8.
For guidance concerning the deposit requirements for serials, see Chapter 1500, Section 1509.1(K).
712.4 International Standard Serial Number (“ISSN”)
If an International Standard Serial Number (“ISSN”) has been assigned to the serial, the applicant is strongly encouraged to include that information in the online application. For guidance on completing this portion of the application, see Chapter 600, Section 612.6(C). When completing Form SE, the applicant may include the ISSN number in the space marked Previous or Alternative Titles.
If the applicant provides an ISSN, the number will appear on the certificate of registration and the online public record. Providing this information is useful, because an ISSN may be used to search and retrieve the registration records for a particular serial. However, providing an ISSN is optional and an application will be accepted even if this portion of the application is left blank.
The U.S. Copyright Office does not assign ISSNs. For information concerning the procedure for obtaining an ISSN, applicants should write to the Serials Record Division of the Library of Congress at the following address:
Library of Congress
ISSN Publisher Liaison Section
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20540-4284
