503 Identifying the Original Authorship That the Applicant Intends to Register
A copyright claim is a claim in the original authorship that an author or authors contributed to the work. The applicant – not the U.S. Copyright Office – must identify the original authorship that the applicant intends to register. In making this determination, the applicant may find it helpful to consider the following questions:
• What is the work of authorship?
• Who is the author(s) of the work?
• What type(s) of authorship did the author or co-authors create?
• Who owns the copyright in that authorship?
• Does the work contain unclaimable material?
Each of these topics is discussed in Sections 503.1 through 503.5 below.