603.2 (A) Material Variances That May Be Resolved by Amending the Registration Record without Annotating
If a material variance may be clearly resolved by reviewing the registration materials as a whole or by reviewing other U.S. Copyright Office records, the registration specialist may amend the information in the registration record without communicating with the applicant. As a general rule, if all of the required information appears in the application itself (as opposed to elsewhere in the registration materials, including the deposit copy(ies), a cover letter, or the Note to Copyright Office field), the specialist will not annotate the registration record to indicate that the application was revised.
Examples:
• The Office receives applications to register ten fabric designs. The application for “Design No. 8” names Chelsea’s Fabric Hose as the author and claimant. The name Chelsea’s Fabric House appears in all the other applications, in the cover letter, and the address where the certificates of registration should be sent. The registration specialist may correct the typographical error in the name given in the application for Design No. 8 without giving an annotation.
• Eric Kressler and Carla McCloud submit an application to register a song titled “Friday Afternoon Blues,” naming themselves as co-authors of the work. The deposit copy states that the song was written by “Erica Kessler and Carl MacCloud.” In a cover letter Eric and Carla explain that their names were misprinted on the copy and that the names given on the application are correct. The registration specialist will register the claim without annotation, but a note will be added to the certificate of registration and the online public record indicating the presence of correspondence in the file.