The specialist will review the identifying material to determine if it satisfies the deposit requirements. In addition, the specialist will examine the deposit for unclaimable material that should be excluded from the claim. As discussed in Section 720.4, the identifying material for the secure test will be retained by the Office.
If the specialist determines that the test constitutes copyrightable subject matter and that the other legal and formal requirements have been met, the Office will register the claim and will mail a certificate of registration to the applicant at a later date.
The Office cannot guarantee the security or confidentiality of secure tests that are mailed to the Office or uploaded to the Office’s online registration system. Secure tests delivered by mail or uploaded to the online registration system will be included in the Office’s normal work flow and will not be given any special treatment. If the applicant uploads an electronic copy of a secure test through the Office’s electronic registration system, the copy cannot be returned or deleted from the system.
See generally Deposit Requirements: Proposed Rulemaking, 42 Fed. Reg. 59,302, 59,304 (Nov. 16, 1977).
720.3 Examination Fee for Secure Tests
The applicant must pay an examination fee in addition to the filing fee for the application. The examination fee is set forth in the Office's fee schedule under the heading “Secure test processing (per staff member per hour)” (www.copyright.gov/docs/fees.html). The fee is based on the amount of time that it takes to examine the secure test materials.
As discussed in Section 720.2, the applicant should bring the examination fee to the Public Information Office, along with the application, a complete copy of the secure test materials, the identifying material, and the filing fee (if it has not been paid). The examination fee may be paid in cash, by credit card, or by check, or it may be charged to a deposit account. Once the secure test materials have been examined, the examination fee is not refundable, regardless of whether the Office issues a certificate of registration.
720.4 Identifying Material for Secure Tests
As discussed in Section 720.2, the applicant must provide the U.S. Copyright Office with a copy of the secure test materials that the applicant intends to register. These materials will be returned to the applicant when the registration specialist completes his or her examination. In addition, the applicant must provide the Office with a portion or description of the test that is sufficient to create an archival record of the secure test. This identifying material will be retained by the Office and may be made available for public inspection in appropriate circumstances.
The type of identifying material that should be submitted to the Office depends on the format of the secure test, and the sufficiency of that material will be determined by the registration specialist. The applicant may be required to submit different identifying material if the test is administered in an unusual format. In all cases, the identifying material should contain a representative selection of the new questions and/or answers that the applicant intends to register. See generally 37 C.F.R. § 202.21.
