motion picture are separately owned, each work may be registered with a separate application.
If the screenwriter independently created the script and then transferred the copyright to the party that owns the copyright in the motion picture, the script may be registered with the motion picture. In this situation, the screenwriter should be named as an author of the script, but not as a claimant. In addition, the applicant should provide a transfer statement that explains how the claimant obtained the copyright in the script [e.g., "by written agreement").
808.10(G)(2) Musical Compositions Contained in a Motion Picture Soundtrack
A song or other musical composition may be incorporated into the soundtrack of a motion picture. The musical composition may be a preexisting work or it may be newly composed for the motion picture.
If the copyright in the motion picture and the copyright in the musical composition are separately owned, each work should be registered with a separate application.
808.10(G)(3) Separately Owned Sounds Contained in a Motion Picture Soundtrack
In some cases, a recording of a song may be incorporated into the soundtrack of a motion picture. Often times the recording of the song is a previously published work and the copyright in the motion picture and the copyright in the recording are separately owned. If so, the motion picture and the sound recording should be registered with separate applications. When completing the application for the motion picture, the applicant should exclude the previously published sound recording from the claim by stating "sound recording" in the Material Excluded field or the Preexisting Work space, even though the recording is an integral party of the motion picture soundtrack.
By contrast, if the recording of the song was first published in the motion picture, the recording is considered an integral part of the motion picture. As such, the applicant should submit one application covering both the motion picture and the recording of the song, rather than a separate application for the motion picture and the sound recording.
808.10(H) Issues Regarding Sound Recording Claims
As discussed in Section 808.2(B), the term "sound recording" should not be used to describe authorship in a motion picture.
808.10(H)(1) Sounds Contained in One Format
On occasion, an applicant submits a claim for a motion picture and mistakenly uses the term "sound recording" in the application. If it is clear from the registration materials that this term refers to the soundtrack of the motion picture rather than a separate sound recording, the registration specialist may register the claim with an annotation, such as: "Regarding authorship: Motion picture includes accompanying sounds, not a sound recording."
Chapter 800 : 118 12/22/2014
