721.10 Screen Displays
721.10(A) Relationship Between Source Code and Screen Displays
As a general rule, a computer program and the screen displays generated by that program are considered the same work, because in most cases the screen displays are created by the program code. If the copyright in the program and the screen displays are owned by the same claimant, the program and any related screen displays may be registered with the same application.
The U.S. Copyright Office will not knowingly issue a separate registration for a computer program and the screen displays that may be generated by that program. Likewise, the Office will not issue a supplementary registration that purports to add a claim in screen displays to a basic registration for a computer program.
If the applicant states "computer program" in the Author Created/New Material Included fields or in spaces 2 and 6(b), the registration will cover the copyrightable expression in the program code and any copyrightable screen displays that may be generated by that code, even if the applicant did not mention the screen displays or even if the deposit copy(ies) do not contain any screen displays. By contrast, if an applicant states "screen displays" in these portions of the application, the registration will not cover the computer program unless the applicant also asserts a claim in the "computer program" and submits an appropriate deposit. See Registration Decision: Registration and Deposit of Computer Screen Displays, 53 Fed. Reg. 21,817, 21,819-20 (June 10, 1988).
This rule does not apply to the HTML code for a website, because HTML is not a computer program or source code. If the applicant submits an application to register HTML code, the registration may cover the code itself, but it does not cover any of the content that may appear on the website unless the applicant submits a copy of the website content and expressly asserts a claim in that material. For a discussion of HTML code, see Chapter 1000, Section 1006.1(A).
721.10(B) Copyrightable Authorship in Screen Displays
When asserting a claim in screen displays, the claim should be limited to the new material that appears in the screen displays, the applicant should provide the name of the author who created that material, and the applicant should provide the name of the claimant who owns the copyright in that material. The Literary Division may accept a claim in "text" if the screen displays contain a sufficient amount of textual expression that is not a part of the code, or a claim in "artwork" and/or "photograph(s)" if the screen displays contain a sufficient amount of artwork or photos that are not generated by the computer program. When completing an online application, this information should be provided in the Author Created field, and if applicable, also in the New Material Included field. When completing a paper application on Form TX, this information should be provided in space 2, and if applicable, also in space 6(b). For guidance on completing these portions of the application, see Chapter 600, Sections 618.4 and 621.8.
A registration for a computer program covers the copyrightable expression that appears in any screen that may be generated by the program, even if the applicant does not
Chapter 700 : 54
12/22/2014
