• Mary, Bob, and Sam publish a CD containing four tracks. Mary wrote the music for songs 1 and 2; Bob wrote the music for songs 3 and 4. Sam wrote the lyrics for all four songs. Mary, Bob, and Sam performed all four tracks. There has been no transfer of ownership. Mary, Bob, and Sam co-own the sound recordings for all four tracks. By contrast, Mary and Sam co-own songs 1 and 2, and Bob and Sam co-own songs 3 and 4. The unit of publication option may be used to register the sound recordings, but cannot be used for the musical works. To register the sound recordings, the applicant should complete one application specifying Sound Recording as the Type of Work and should name Mary, Bob, and Sam as the authors and claimants of "sound recording." To register songs 1 and 2, the applicant should complete a separate application for each musical work specifying Work of the Performing Arts as the Type of Work, naming Mary as the author of "music" and Sam as the author of "lyrics," and naming Mary and Sam as co-claimants. To register songs 3 and 4, the applicant should complete a separate application for each musical work specifying Work of the Performing Arts as the Type of Work, naming Bob as the author of "music" and Sam as the author of "lyrics," and naming Bob and Sam as co-claimants.
• Sara and Chris perform and produce an album, and Max creates the artwork for the album cover. The album and the album cover are published together as a single unit, along with liner notes containing the title and credits for each track. No transfer of ownership has occurred. The unit of publication option may be used to register the sound recordings, but cannot be used for the artwork. To register the sound recordings, the applicant should submit one SR application naming Sara and Chris as the authors and claimants of the "sound recording." To register the artwork, the applicant should submit a separate VA application naming Max as the author and claimant of the "2-D artwork." The liner notes consist solely of names and titles and cannot be registered.
• Jake and Kerry co-wrote eights songs and gave ABC Record Company a non-exclusive license to produce an album containing these works. ABC's employees performed and produced a recording of each song, as well as the cover artwork and liner notes for the album. No transfer of ownership has occurred. The unit of publication option may be used to register the sound recordings, artwork, and liner notes, but cannot be used to register the songs that are embodied in those recordings. To register the sound recordings, artwork, and liner notes, the applicant should submit one SR application, should check the box indicating that the work is a work made for hire, and should name ABC Record Company as the author and claimant of these elements. To register the eight songs, the applicant should submit a separate application for each song and should name Jake and Kerry as the author/claimant for each of those works.
Chapter 800 : 54
12/22/2014
