2132 Cancelled or Abandoned Original Registration Records
While U.S. Copyright Office regulations did not provide for cancellation of records under the Copyright Act of 1909, Office practices required that certain registration records be cancelled when an Office error caused a record to be entered in error or in the wrong class, or when there was lack of payment. 37 C.F.R. § 201.5 (1977). Sometimes a party recorded a document to “abandon” a particular registration record they had made.
When an original registration record was cancelled or was putatively abandoned by the applicant by recordation of a document, the Office generally will refuse a renewal claim based on the cancelled or “abandoned” registration record. If it appears, however, that the work may have secured the full original term of copyright and may be eligible for renewal registration, the Office will advise the applicant accordingly. When a renewal registration is based on an “abandoned” original registration record, the Office will add an annotation to the certificate of renewal registration certificate and a note in the registration record regarding the recorded document.