application and filing fee. Copyright initially belongs to the author and can be transferred by a written agreement or other legal means. If the songs are by different combinations of authors and there has been no transfer of ownership, the copyright ownership requirement has not been met.
Examples:
• Three unpublished songs were written by Jim, Pam, and Dwight: Song 1 by Jim, Pam, and Dwight
Song 2 by Jim, Pam, and Dwight Song 3 by Jim, Pam, and Dwight
Assuming there was no transfer of ownership, the authors and owners of all three songs are the same and the songs may be registered as an unpublished collection.
• Three unpublished songs were written by Jim and Dwight: Song 1 by Jim
Song 2 by Jim Song 3 by Dwight
No single author contributed to all three songs. Assuming there was no transfer of ownership, Jim owns songs 1 and 2, and Dwight owns song 3. Therefore the ownership of the three songs is not the same. Songs 1 and 2 may be registered on one application; song 3 must be registered on a separate application.
• Three songs were written by Jim and Pam: Song 1 by Jim and Pam
Song 2 by Jim Song 3 by Jim
Jim contributed to all three songs, but assuming there was no transfer of ownership, Jim and Pam co-own song 1, and Jim owns songs 2 and 3. Therefore the ownership of the three songs is not the same. Song 1 may be registered on one application, and songs 2 and 3 must be registered on a separate application.
For a detailed description of unpublished collections, see Chapter 1100, Section 1106. For additional examples that illustrate this practice, see Section 803.8(G).
802.8(H) Unit of Publication
An applicant may be able to register multiple musical works with one application and one filing fee if the works are owned by the same claimant, if they were physically bundled together by the claimant for distribution to the public as a single, integrated unit, and if they were first published in that integrated unit. This is known as the unit of publication option. An applicant may use this option if the following conditions have been met:
Chapter 800 : 33
12/22/2014
