NOTE: The administrative classes are solely for administrative purposes, and they have no bearing on the substantive subject matter of copyright or the exclusive rights provided by the copyright law. See 17 U.S.C. § 408(c)(1).
1402.2 Statutory Requirements for Applications
Section 409 of the Copyright Act states that "[t]he application for copyright registration shall be made on a form prescribed by the Register of Copyrights." 17 U.S.C. § 409. Although the Register of Copyrights has been given discretion in how to organize and establish the requirements for the Standard Application (which is discussed in Section 1402.4 below], Section 409 of the Copyright Act sets forth certain elements that must be contained in this form:
1. The name and address of the copyright claimant;
2. In the case of a work other than an anonymous or pseudonymous work, the name and nationality or domicile of the author or authors, and, if one or more of the authors is dead, the dates of their deaths;
3. If the work is anonymous or pseudonymous, the nationality or domicile of the author or authors;
4. In the case of a work made for hire, a statement to this effect;
5. If the copyright claimant is not the author, a brief statement of how the claimant obtained ownership of the copyright;
6. The title of the work, together with any previous or alternative titles under which the work can be identified;
7. The year in which creation of the work was completed;
8. If the work has been published, the date and nation of its first publication; and
9. In the case of a compilation or derivative work, an identification of any preexisting work or works that it is based on or incorporates, and a brief, general statement of the additional material covered by the copyright claim being registered.
17 U.S.C. § 409(1-9). The statute also allows the Register to request additional information in the application process. Specifically, it grants the Register broad authority to require "any other information [that] bearfs] upon the preparation or identification of the work or the existence, ownership, or duration of the copyright." Id. § 409(10).
The Office offers other applications that request some — but not all — of the information listed in Section 409, such as the Single Application (which is discussed in Section 1402.5). These specialized forms do not request all of the information listed in Section 409, because in order to use these applications certain types of information cannot be present in the claim. For example, an applicant cannot use the Single
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