721.5 Relationship Between Source Code and Object Code

Compendium of U.S. Copyright Practices, 3rd Edition

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Chapter 100

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Chapter 400

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Chapter 600

601 What This Chapter Covers
602 General U.S. Copyright Office Examination Practices
603 Variances
- 603.1 Immaterial Variances
- 603.2 Material Variances
604 Annotations
605 Communications Between the Applicant and the Registration Specialist
606 Warnings
607 Registration Made Under the Rule of Doubt
608 Refusal to Register
609 Identifying the Work That the Applicant Intends to Register
610 Title of the Work
611 Year of Completion / Year in Which Creation of This Work Was Completed
- 611.1 Completing the Application: Year of Completion / Year in Which Creation of this Work Was Completed
  - 611.1 (A) Year of Completion for an Unpublished Work Created Over a Period of Time
  - 611.1 (B) Year of Completion for Multiple Versions of the Same Work
- 611.2 Examination Guidelines: Year of Completion / Year in Which Creation of this Work Was Completed
612 Date of Publication
613 Name of Author (s)
614 Works Made for Hire
- 614.1 Completing the Application: Works Made for Hire
- 614.2 Examination Guidelines: Works Made for Hire
  - 614.2 (A) Identifying the Work as a Work Made for Hire
  - 614.2 (B) Identifying the Author of a Work Made for Hire
    
    614.2 (B) (1) Was the Work Created by an Employee Acting within the Scope of His or Her Duties?
    
    614.2 (B) (2) Was the Work Specially Ordered or Commissioned as a Work Made for Hire?
    
    614.2 (B) (3) Naming the Employee or the Individual Who Actually Created the Work as the Author of a Work Made for Hire
    
    614.2 (B) (4) Volunteer Created Work Made for Hire
    
    614.2 (B) (5) Organization Named as the Author of a Work Made for Hire
    
    614.2 (B) (6) Individual Named as Author of a Work Made for Hire
    
    614.2 (B) (7) Individual and Incorporated Organization Named Together as the Authors of a Work Made for Hire
    
    614.2 (B) (8) Individual and Unincorporated Organization Named Together as the Authors of a Work Made for Hire
615 Anonymous and Pseudonymous Works
616 Year of Author’s Birth and Death
617 Citizenship and Domicile of the Author
618 Author Created / Nature of Authorship
619 Name of Claimant
620 Transfer Statement
621 Limitation of Claim
622 Rights and Permissions Information / Correspondent / Mail Certificate
623 Special Handling
624 Certification
625 Registration Decision Date and Effective Date of Registration

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2314 The Visual Arts Registry

721.5 Relationship Between Source Code and Object Code

The U.S. Copyright Office views source code and object code as two representations of the same work. See GCA Corp. v. Chance, 217 U.S.P.Q. 718, 719-20 (N.D. Cal. 1982) ([b]ecause the object code is the encryption of the copyrighted source code, the two are to be treated as one work … “).

As a general rule, the Office will not issue separate registrations for the source code and object code versions of the same program. If a program was registered in unpublished form based on a submission of object code, the Office may register the first published version of the same program based on a submission of source code (or vice versa), even if the published version “is substantially the same as the unpublished version.” 17 U.S.C.

§ 408 (E); 37 C.F.R. § 202.3 (B) (11) (I).

For details concerning the deposit requirements for registering a computer program with a submission of object code, see Chapter 1500, Section 1509.1 (F) (4) (B).