802.6(J) Method Books
Instructional books for learning to play an instrument are sometimes known as method books. Method books typically contain common properly elements such as scales, arpeggios, chord charts, and musical examples taken from preexisting sources. They also may contain original elements, such as instructional text, new music, and original musical exercises. If a method book contains sufficient copyrightable text and/or new music, the application will be accepted on that basis.
A method book that contains only previously published material or chords, scales, exercises, and other information that is common property may be registered as a compilation [i.e., based on the selection, coordination, and/or arrangement of the preexisting material, as defined under 17 U.S.C. § 101) if it contains at least a minimal amount of compilation authorship. If the compilation authorship is de minimis, the claim cannot be registered. For example, a compilation of all the diatonic major and minor scales would not constitute sufficient creative compilation authorship, because the selection and arrangement is dictated by the Western musical scale system.
For a general discussion of compilations, see Chapter 500, Section 508.
802.7 Collective Musical Works
Collective musical works potentially give rise to two separate copyrightable claims: (i) the compilation authorship in the selection, coordination, and/or arrangement of the independent musical works; and (if) the individual authorship contributions to the musical works themselves. If the ownership of the two aspects is not the same, the two works should be registered separately.
Examples:
• A quarterly journal of contemporary art songs.
• A hymnal comprised of several single contributions from various hymnal composers.
• A folio of selected Rodgers and Hammerstein songs.
For general information on collective works, see Chapter 500, Section 509.
802.8 Registration Issues
This Section discusses frequent registration issues that arise in connection with musical works.
802.8(A) A Registration for a Musical Work Distinguished from a Registration for a Sound Recording
As discussed in Section 802.2(B), a musical work and a sound recording of that work are two separate works. A registration for a musical work covers the music and lyrics (if any) embodied in that composition, but it does not cover a particular recording of that
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