As a general rule, these types of works do not contain "statements or instructions" that may be used "directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result," nor do they contain any executable program code. 17 U.S.C. § 101 (definition of "computer program"). In some cases, they may represent nothing more than an "idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery." 17 U.S.C. § 102(b). Therefore, if an applicant attempts to register a diagram, model, outline, or other type of work as a computer program, the registration specialist may communicate with the applicant or may refuse to register the claim.
725 Spreadsheets, Reports, and Other Documents Generated by a Computer Program
Spreadsheets, reports, or other documents generated by a computer program may be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office if they contain a sufficient amount of original authorship. When asserting a claim in this type of work, the applicant should limit the claim to the copyrightable material that appears in the deposit copy(ies), the applicant should provide the name of the author who created that material, and the name of the claimant who owns the copyright in that material. The Literary Division may accept a claim in "text" if the deposit copy(ies) contain a sufficient amount of written expression, or a claim in "artwork" if the deposit copy(ies) contain a sufficient amount of pictorial or graphic expression.
A computer program that may be used to generate spreadsheets or to perform calculations or other functions within a spreadsheet, report, or other document may be registered, provided that the applicant expressly asserts a claim in the "computer program" and submits an appropriate selection of source code. 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 also in space 6(b) if applicable. For guidance on completing these portions of the application, see Sections 721.9(F) and 721.9(G).
A claim in "text" or "artwork" covers the copyrightable expression that appears in the deposit copy(ies), but it does not cover the computer program that may be used to perform calculations or other functions within a spreadsheet, report, or other document. While these types of documents may contain statements or instructions that may be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result, in most cases the code that performs those functions was created by the author of the authoring tool, rather than the author of the document itself. Therefore, if an applicant attempts to register a spreadsheet, report, or other document as a computer program but fails to submit an appropriate selection of source code, the registration specialist may communicate with the applicant or may refuse to register the claim.
A spreadsheet, report, or other document may be registered as a compilation if the author exercised a sufficient amount of creativity in selecting, coordinating, and/or arranging the algorithms or other information that appears within the deposit copy(ies). When asserting a claim in a compilation, the applicant should provide the name of the author who created the selection, coordination, and/or arrangement that the applicant intends to register, and the applicant should assert a claim to copyright in that material by using the procedure described in Chapter 600, Section 618.6.
Chapter 700 : 58
12/22/2014
