Library of Congress
Copyright Office
Renewals Section, LM-449
101 Independence Avenue, S.E. 
Washington, D.C. 20559-6000

============ NEW VERSIONS ============

Copyright in a new version of a previously copyrighted work (such as an arrangement, translation, dramatization, compilation, or work republished with new matter) covers only the additions, changes, or other new material appearing for the first time in that version.  The copyright secured in a new version is independent of any copyright protection in material published or copyrighted earlier, and the only “authors” of a new version are those who contributed copyrightable matter to it.  Thus, for renewal purposes, the person who wrote the original version upon which the new work is based cannot be regarded as an “author” of the new version, unless that person also contributed to the new matter.

===================================================== CONTRIBUTIONS TO PERIODICALS OR OTHER COMPOSITE WORKS ===================================================== >

SEPARATE RENEWAL FOR A SINGLE CONTRIBUTION

Separate renewal registration is possible for a work published as a contribution to a periodical, serial, or other composite work whether or not the contribution was copyrighted independently or as part of the larger work in which it appeared.  Except in the cases described in the next paragraph, each contribution published in a separate issue requires a separate renewal registration.

RENEWAL FOR A GROUP OF CONTRIBUTIONS

+ Requirements for Group Renewal:  A renewal registration using a single
  application and $45*, plus $15* for each addendum, (if required) fee
  can be made for a group of periodical contributions if all the
  following five statutory conditions are met: 

1.  All the works were written by the same author, who is or was an individual (not an employee for hire);

2.  All of the works were first published as contributions to periodicals (including newspapers) and were copyrighted on their first publication;

3.  The renewal claimant or claimants and the basis of the claim or claims are the same for all the works;

4.  The renewal application and fee are received not less than 27 years after the 31st day of December of the calendar year in which all the works were first published; and

5.  The renewal application identifies each work separately, including the periodical containing it and the date of first publication.

+ TIME LIMITS FOR GROUP RENEWALS:  To be renewed as a group, all the
  contributions must have been first published during the same calendar
  year.  For example, suppose six contributions by the same author were
  published on April 1, 1971; July 1, 1971; November 1, 1971; February 1,
  1972; July 1, 1972; and March 1, 1973.  The three 1971 copyrights can be
  combined and renewed on the same Form RE at any time during 1999; the
  two 1972 copyrights can be renewed as a group during 2000; but the 1973
  copyright must be renewed by itself in 2001.