guardian generally should submit the application as a duly authorized agent of the applicant.
405.4 Prisoners
An incarcerated person may claim copyright, and the U.S. Copyright Office will accept applications submitted either by or on behalf of an inmate of a prison or other penal institution if the application is otherwise proper and complete.
405.5 Deceased Authors
The U.S. Copyright Office will accept applications submitted by or on behalf of a claimant who owns all of the rights that initially belonged to a deceased author, such as the author’s estate, a devisee, or an heir. Likewise, the Office will accept applications that name a deceased author as the copyright claimant if the author is the only party who is eligible to be named as the copyright claimant. If the application names an individual as author and claimant and the Office discovers that the individual died before the application has been approved for registration, the registration specialist may communicate with the applicant for the name of the current claimant.
405.6 Foreign Authors
The U.S. Copyright Office will register works created by a foreign author if the work is eligible for copyright protection in the United States. U.S. copyright law protects the unpublished works of all authors (domestic or foreign) as long as the work is not in the public domain. Published works of foreign authors may be eligible for protection in the United States if they satisfy the requirements described in Chapter 2000, Section 2003.
406 Applications Filed by or on Behalf of a Copyright Owner Who Owns All of the Exclusive Rights
A transferee who owns all of the rights in the copyright may be named in the application as the copyright claimant. An application to register the copyright in the transferee’s name may be certified and submitted by the author of the work, by the transferee, or by their respective agents. In this situation, the transferee is considered to be the claimant, and—depending on who submitted the application—the author, the transferee, or the authorized agent of the author or the transferee is considered the applicant.
407 Applications Filed by an Owner of One or More – But Less than All – of the Exclusive Rights
Any of the exclusive rights that make up a copyright or any subdivision of those rights can be transferred and owned separately. 17 U.S.C. § 201(d)(2). A party who owns one or more – but not all – of the rights that initially belonged to an author cannot be named as a copyright claimant. See 37 C.F.R. § 202.3(a)(3). However, an owner of one or more of the exclusive rights may submit an application to register the copyright in the author’s name. In this situation, the author is considered to be the claimant, and the owner of the exclusive right(s) is considered the applicant. See generally Registration of Copyright: Definition of Claimant, 77 Fed. Reg. 29,257, 29,258–59 (May 17, 2012).
