specialist conducts only a limited review of an application for preregistration. Specifically, the specialist will ascertain whether the work described in the application falls within one of the classes of works that have had a history of infringement prior to authorized commercial release (as determined by the Register of Copyrights) and whether the applicant provided all of the necessary information specified in the application.
As a general rule, the registration specialist will not pass judgment on the adequacy of the written description of the work. However, the description is an important part of the preregistration record, and it is important to recognize that this record cannot be corrected, amended, or supplemented once the U.S. Copyright Office has issued a notification of preregistration. See Section 1612. In an action for infringement of a preregistered work, the court may evaluate the written description to determine whether it actually describes the work that allegedly has been infringed, taking into account the information available when the application was submitted and taking into account the applicant's legitimate interest in protecting confidential information concerning the work.
See 37 C.F.R. § 202.16(c)(6)-(7); see also Preregistration of Certain Unpublished Copyright Claims, 70 Fed. Reg. 42,286, 42,289-90 (July 22, 2005).
1608 Notification of Preregistration
If the application for preregistration has been approved, the U.S. Copyright Office will issue a notification of preregistration to the person or organization named in the application as the correspondent. The Office will send the notification to the email address that the applicant provided on the Notification & Certification section of the application.
The notification will include the preregistration number that has been assigned to the claim and the effective date of the preregistration. Preregistration numbers are not based on the nature of the work [i.e., a number beginning with the letters VA for a work of the visual arts or a number beginning with the letters PA for a work of the performing arts). Instead, they are numbered consecutively beginning with the prefix PRE, regardless of whether the work in question is a motion picture, a sound recording, a musical composition, a book, a computer program, a videogame, or an advertising or marketing photograph.
The notification of preregistration will remind the correspondent that the work should be registered in a timely manner to secure the full benefit of the preregistration, and that the preregistration number should be included in the application for a basic registration to ensure that the records for the preregistration and the basic registration will be cross-referenced with each other.
The notification of preregistration is the only notice that the Office will provide to the applicant or the claimant indicating that a preregistration has been made. The Office does not issue paper certificates for preregistrations.
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