609 Identifying the Work That the Applicant Intends to Register
The U.S. Copyright Office has specified various administrative classes of works for registration and deposit purposes as authorized pursuant to Section 408 (C) (1) of the Copyright Act. These classes are:
• Literary Works.
• Works of the Visual Arts.
• Works of the Performing Arts.
• Sound Recordings.
• Serials.
37 C.F.R. § 202.3 (B). These classes or types of work are merely an administrative classification and do not affect the subject matter of copyright or the exclusive rights in a work. Nevertheless, the applicant should exercise judgment and care when selecting the Type of Work in the online application or selecting the appropriate form for a paper application. The selection should correspond to the predominant copyrightable authorship being claimed in the application. The initial selection may dictate the options for describing the authorship that the applicant intends to register and/or the deposit that is required. And it will determine the registration number that the Office ultimately issues. If the applicant chooses the wrong Type of Work or uses the wrong form for certain types of works, the registration specialist may change the Type of Work to the appropriate classification without communicating with the applicant.
For works that contain multiple types of authorship, see Section 609.3 below.