612.7 Examination Guidelines: Date and Nation of First Publication
This Section discusses the U.S. Copyright Office’s practices and procedures for examining the Date and Nation of first publication field/space in an online application or a paper application.
As a general rule, if the applicant fails to complete the Date and Nation of first publication space in a paper application, the work will be registered as an unpublished work. The registration specialist may communicate with the applicant if information provided elsewhere in the registration materials clearly suggests that publication has occurred or if the specialist knows that the work has been published, such as a well- known novel or film.