803.7 (B) Unregistrable Compilations
A re-issue containing previously released or registered sound recordings cannot be registered as a compilation unless the author contributed a sufficient amount of original authorship in selecting or arranging the preexisting sound recordings. For instance, taking all the works by a particular artist and arranging them in chronological order would not be registrable, because there is no creativity in selecting all the artist’s works and putting them in date order.
Examples:
• Two previously released albums are combined onto a single CD and rereleased; the tracks are not reordered. The registration specialist will refuse registration because the author merely combined two preexisting albums, which does not represent enough original authorship to support a claim in a compilation of sound recordings.
• Kalorama Records released a box set of all of the singles that the label released in a particular calendar year, presented in chronological order. The registration specialist will refuse registration because the order of the singles was predetermined by the order of the calendar year.