619.13(Q) Deceased Individual or Defunct Entity Named as a Claimant
As a general rule, the claimant named in the application must be an individual or legal entity capable of owning the copyright in the work.
If the author is the only party who is eligible to be named as the copyright claimant, and if the author is deceased or a defunct organization, the U.S. Copyright Office will accept an application that names the author as the copyright claimant. Likewise, the Office will accept an application that names a claimant who owns all of the rights that initially belonged to a deceased author, such as the author’s estate, devisee, or heir. See Group Registration of Contributions to Periodicals, 81 Fed. Reg. 86,634, 86,641-42 (Dec. 1,
2016).