1106.3(F) Author Created / Nature of Authorship
If the works were created by a single author, the applicant should identify
the copyrightable authorship that the author contributed to each work that will be
submitted for registration.
If the works were created or co-created by two or more authors, the applicant should identify the elements that the authors created, and for each author, the applicant should identify the copyrightable authorship that he or she contributed to those elements.
If any of the authors created or co-created some — but less than all — of the elements in the works, the applicant should identify the copyrightable authorship that each author contributed to those elements.
If any selection, coordination, and/or arrangement is claimed, the applicant must assert that claim in the application. It should be noted that asserting such a claim will render the collection a "collective work," which will affect the amount of damages that may be recovered in an infringement action.
When completing an online application, the applicant should provide this information on the Authors screen in the field marked Author Created. Specifically, the applicant should check one or more of the boxes on the Author Created screen that accurately describe the author's contribution to each work. For guidance on completing this field, see Chapter 600, Section 618.4(A). For guidance on asserting a claim in the selection, coordination, and/or arrangement of the works, see Chapter 600, Section 618.6.
When completing a paper application, the applicant should provide this information in the space marked Nature of Authorship. For guidance in completing this portion of the application, see Chapter 600, Section 618.4(B).
1106.3(G) Claimants / Transfer Statement
To register a number of works using the unpublished collection option, the applicant should provide the name and address of the copyright claimant. See 17 U.S.C. § 409(1). For purposes of copyright registration, the copyright claimant must be (i) an author or co-author of all of the elements in the collection, or (ii) a person or organization that owns all of the rights under copyright that initially belonged to the author or co-authors of those elements. See 37 C.F.R. § 202.3(a)(3). No other party is entitled to be named as a copyright claimant.
As discussed in Section 1106.1, the claimant for all of the elements and the claimant for the collection as a whole must be the same person or organization. An author may be named as the copyright claimant, provided that he or she contributed copyrightable authorship to all of the elements and created the collection as a whole. Likewise, an author who contributed copyrightable authorship to all of the elements may be named as the copyright claimant, even if other co-authors co-created one or more of those elements.
In the alternative, a person or organization that owns all of the rights that initially belonged to the author may be named as the copyright claimant, but only if that party
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