When completing an application for a derivative work, the applicant should identify and exclude the preexisting material from the claim and describe the new authorship that the author contributed to the preexisting work. The applicant also should limit the claim if the derivative work contains material created by others that is not a part of the claim.
For guidance on these procedures, see Chapter 600, Section 621. For general information regarding derivative works, see Chapter 500, Section 507.
807.7 Registration Issues
This Section discusses frequent registration issues involving certain types of audiovisual works.
807.7(A) Videogames
807.7(A)(1) Videogames Distinguished from Computer Programs
Generally, a videogame contains two major components: the audiovisual material and the computer program. The audiovisual material of a videogame may be registered apart from the computer program that runs the game. When the audiovisual material and the computer program are both owned by the same entity, they may be registered together on one application.
An application to register a videogame should clearly state whether the claim extends to the computer program, the audiovisual material, or both components. If the authorship is described simply as "videogame," the registration specialist may communicate with the applicant if the scope of the claim is unclear from the deposit material. For example, if the deposit material does not include source code for the computer program, the claim will extend only to the audiovisual material.
807.7(A)(2) One Videogame, Multiple Platforms
Videogames are commonly released on several different platforms. Applicants often
attempt to register each platform separately. Generally, when the same work
is published in different versions, the Office will issue separate registrations for each
version only if they contain separable copyrightable material. See Chapter 500, Section
512.
If there are copyrightable differences in the audiovisual material (or the computer program) for each platform, the Office may issue a separate registration for each version. In this situation, the deposit material for each version should show some of the differences. In addition, the applicant should confirm, either in the Note to Copyright Office field or in a cover letter, that the audiovisual material (or computer program) differs between versions. If the applicant does not provide such a statement, the registration specialist will communicate with the applicant to determine whether the versions contain copyrightable differences.
If the differences do not appear in the audiovisual content, but instead appear solely in the computer programming that is used to achieve compatibility with the hardware
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