• Form VA should be used for registering pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including two-dimensional or three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art, photographs, print or art reproductions, maps, technical drawings,
or architectural works.
• Form PA should be used to register musical works (either with or without lyrics), dramatic works (such as a screenplay, play, or other
script), pantomimes, choreographic works, or audiovisual works, such as a feature films, documentary films, animated films, television shows, videos, or videogames.
• Form SR must be used if the applicant intends to register any sound recording authorship, even if the work contains additional types of authorship, such as music or lyrics. See 37 C.F.R. § 202.3(b)(2)(ii)(C) ("in any case where registration is sought for a work consisting of or including a sound recording in which copyright is claimed, the application shall be submitted on Form SR"). If the applicant does not intend to register a sound recording, Form SR should not be used (even if the work contains one or more sound recordings). The applicant should not use Form SR if the applicant intends to register the sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work.
NOTE: The Office only registers sound recordings that were fixed on or after February 15, 1972. For information concerning this issue, see Chapter 800, Section 803.5(D).
• Form SE should be used to register a single issue of a serial publication [e.g., magazines, journals). If the applicant intends to register an individual article, the applicant should use Form TX instead of Form SE. For a detailed discussion of single issue serials, see Chapter 700, Section 712. Registration for a group of serials or a group of contributions to a periodical is also permissible. For a detailed discussion of these group registration options and their eligibility requirements, see Chapter 1100, Sections 1109 and 1115.
• Form MW should be used to register a claim in a mask work that is fixed in a semiconductor chip product by or under the authority of the owner of the mask work. A mask work is a series of related images, however fixed or encoded, having or representing the predetermined, three-dimensional pattern of metallic, insulating, or semiconductor material present or removed from the layers of a semiconductor chip product, and in which the relation of the images to one another is such that each image has the pattern of the surface of one form of the semiconductor chip product. For more information on mask works, see Chapter 1200.
• Form D-VH should be used to register a claim in a vessel design. These forms apply only to water crafts that are designed and capable of (i) independently steering a course on or through water by themselves or via propulsion, and (ii) transporting one or more passengers. For more information on vessel designs, see Chapter 1300.
Chapter 1400 : 9
12/22/2014
