613.10 (C) Name of Author Not Required
As discussed in Section 613.3 the applicant should not provide the name of any person who created material that is not owned by the copyright claimant or material that the applicant does not intend to register. Likewise, the applicant should not provide the name of any person who created material that is de minimis or uncopyrightable. As a general rule, if the applicant fails to mention an author who is named in the deposit copy(ies) or elsewhere in the registration materials, the registration specialist will not communicate with the applicant if it is clear that the claimant does not own the copyright in that author’s contribution or if it is clear that the applicant does not intend to register that contribution. In making this determination, the specialist may consider the title of the work, the copyright notice, or any other information given in the deposit copy(ies) or elsewhere in the registration materials. If appropriate, the registration specialist may add an annotation to the registration record to clarify the information given in the application or to add information that appears in the deposit copy(ies) or elsewhere in the registration materials.
Examples:
• Technology Law Guides, Inc. submits an application to register a textbook titled Software and Internet Law (Second Edition). The application names Maria Scott as the author of “text.” A statement on the title page reads, “Second Edition Editor in Chief: Maria Scott, Contributing Editors Terry Johnson, Belinda Boswell, et al.” The registration specialist will register the claim if he or she determines that the applicant only intends to register the new material that appears in the second edition, that Maria is the author of the new material, and that Terry and Belinda did not contribute copyrightable authorship to the second edition.
• An application is submitted for a 500 page biography of Charles de Gaul. The deposit copies name Pierre Lafayette as the author of the work and Laurent Etienne as the author of the foreword that appears at the beginning of the book. The applicant names Pierre as the author of “text,” but does not mention the author of the foreword. The registration specialist will register the claim because it appears that the applicant only intends to register the text of the biography, rather than the text of the foreword.
• An application names Terrawn Dooley and Jessica Brown as co- authors of a travel brochure. The copy contains text and artwork, along with the statement “Written by T. Dooley and J. Brown. Artwork by Kyle Ritz.” The registration specialist will register the claim because the text and the artwork appear to be separately owned and the applicant appears to be asserting a claim in the text, but not the artwork. To clarify the scope of the claim, the specialist may add an annotation, such as: “Regarding author information: Statements on deposit copy indicate text by Terrawn Dooley and Jessica Brown.”
If the applicant fails to mention an author who is named in the deposit copy(ies) or elsewhere in the registration materials, the registration specialist will not communicate with the applicant if the author’s contribution appears to be de minimis or uncopyrightable.
Examples:
• Darryl Cooper submits an application for a screenplay titled Better Safe Than Sorry. Both the application and the deposit copy name Darryl as the author of the work. In the Note to Copyright Office field, the applicant explains that his friend Tom Klein came up with the title for the work. Because titles are uncopyrightable and because the applicant did not claim the title in the application, the registration specialist will register the claim without communicating with the applicant.
• An application is submitted for a photograph that contains an image of a fashion model together with the phrase “Not to be outdone.” The application names Jordan Johnson as the author of the photograph. The deposit copy names Jordan as the author of the “photograph” and Marci Adams as the author of the “text.” Because the text is a short phrase that is uncopyrightable and because that applicant did not claim the text in the application, the registration specialist will register the claim without communicating with the applicant.