1605 Preregistration for a Sound Recording Distinguished from a Preregistration for a Musical Composition
As a general rule, a preregistration for a motion picture extends to any sounds that may accompany that work, because a soundtrack falls within the statutory definition of a "motion picture." See 17 U.S.C. § 101 (stating that: '"Motion pictures' are audiovisual works" and that '"Audiovisual works' are works that consist of a series of related images which are intrinsically intended to be shown by the use of machines or devices such as projectors, viewers, or electronic equipment, together with accompanying sounds, if any"). A preregistration for a sound recording does not, in and of itself, constitute a preregistration of the musical works that may be embodied in that recording. See H.R. Rep. No. 109-33, pt. 1, at 5 [2005], reprinted in 2005 U.S.C.CA.N. 220, 224. However, a claimant that owns the copyright in both a sound recording and a musical work embodied within that recording may preregister both the sound recording and the musical work with a single application. See Preregistration of Certain Unpublished Copyright Claims, 70 Fed. Reg. 42,286, 42,288, 42,290 (July 22, 2005).
1606 Completing the Application
To preregister a work, the applicant must submit an application through the U.S. Copyright Office's electronic preregistration system. (The Office will not accept a paper application for preregistration.) To access this system, the applicant should go to the following link of the U.S. Copyright Office's website (www.copyright.gov/prereg/), then click the "Continue" button which appears next to the phrase "Start the preregistration process (Electronic Form PRE)."
In the application, the applicant must provide certain information about the work of authorship, such as the date the author started to create the work and the date the work is expected to be completed. These requirements are discussed in Sections 1606.2 through 1606.10. The information provided in the application should be based on the information available at the time the application is submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office.
See 37 C.F.R. § 202.16(c)(3); see also Preregistration of Certain Unpublished Copyright Claims, 70 Fed. Reg. 42,286, 42,289, 42,290 (July 22, 2005); Preregistration of Certain Unpublished Copyright Claims, 70 Fed. Reg. 61,905, 61,906 (Oct. 27, 2005).
1606.1 Confidentiality and Privacy Concerns
Section 705 of the Copyright Act requires the Register of Copyrights to prepare and maintain "records of deposits, registrations, recordations, and other actions" taken by the U.S. Copyright Office, and states that these records "shall be open to public inspection." 17 U.S.C. § 705(a)-(b).
Any information that the applicant provides in an application for preregistration will appear in the preregistration record for that work. The preregistration record will be available to the public upon request, and the U.S. Copyright Office will post the information that appears in the notification of preregistration in the online record for the work, which will be available to the public through the Office's website. Because these records are open to the public, an applicant should not provide information on the application if the author, claimant, and/or applicant do not wish to make that
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