Although a copyright registration is not required, the Copyright Act establishes a mandatory deposit requirement for works published in the United States. See the definition of “publication.” In general, the owner of copyright or the owner of the exclusive right of publication in the work has a legal obligation to deposit in the Copyright Office, within 3 months of publication in the United States, two copies (or in the case of sound recordings, two phonorecords) for the use of the Library of Congress. Failure to make the deposit can result in fines and other penalties but does not affect copyright protection.
Certain categories of works are exempt entirely from the mandatory deposit requirements, and the obligation is reduced for certain other categories. For further information about mandatory deposit, request Circular 7d “Mandatory Deposit of Copies or Phonorecords for the Library of Congress.” [http://www.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ07d.pdf].
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USE OF MANDATORY DEPOSIT TO SATISFY REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS
For works published in the United States, the copyright law contains a provision under which a single deposit can be made to satisfy both the deposit requirements for the Library and the registration requirements. In order to have this dual effect, the copies or phonorecords must be accompanied by the prescribed application form and filing fee.
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WHO MAY FILE AN APPLICATION FORM?
The following persons are legally entitled to submit an application form:
+ The author. This is either
the person who actually created the
work or, if the work was made
for hire, the employer or other person
for whom the work was prepared.
+ The copyright claimant.
The copyright claimant is defined in
Copyright Office regulations
as either the author of the work or a
person or organization that
has obtained ownership of all the rights
under the copyright initially
belonging to the author. This category
includes a person or organization
who has obtained by contract the
right to claim legal title
to the copyright in an application for
copyright registration.
+ The owner of exclusive right(s).
Under the law, any of the
exclusive rights that make
up a copyright and any subdivision of
them can be transferred and
owned separately, even though the
transfer may be limited in
time or place of effect. The term
“copyright owner”
with respect to any one of the exclusive rights
contained in a copyright refers
to the owner of that particular
right. Any owner of an
exclusive right may apply for registration of
a claim in the work.