618.8 (D) (3) Claim in De Minimis Material: Works Created by Two or More Authors
If two or more authors are named in the application, and if it appears that one of the authors contributed de minimis authorship to the work, the registration specialist will ask for permission to remove that author’s information from the registration record.
Example:
• An application is submitted for a musical work, naming Bert Mendelson as the author of “music” and Alice Cambridge as the author of “lyrics.” The lyrics consist of the words “I love you” repeated over and over again. The registration specialist will communicate with the applicant and explain that Alice’s contribution to this work appears to be de minimis. If Alice did not contribute any other authorship to the work, the specialist will ask for permission to remove all of Alice’s information and the term “lyrics” from the registration record.
• An application is submitted for a scientific article naming Jason Macro as the author of “text” and Erin Abrunzo as the author of “artwork.” The work contains five pages of text with three figures containing de minimis authorship. Because the figures are de minimis, the registration specialist will ask the applicant for permission to remove all of Erin’s information and the term “artwork” from the registration record.
• An application is submitted for a work naming Manuel Diego as the author of “technical drawing” and Marcia Mays as the author of “text.” The text consists of three short sentences that describe the applicant’s idea for a new invention. Because the text is de minimis, the registration specialist will ask the applicant for permission to remove all of Marcia’s information and the term “text” from the registration record.