weekly issues may be registered together on
year—for example, the December 2017 and
Form SE/Group.
January and February 2018 issues could not be
registered together, but the January, February,
However, a periodical that is independently
and March 2018 issues could be.
owned and created by the same individual(s)
who own it—that is, not created by employees
EXAMPLE 2: The Nutne Reader is a literary
or commissioned workers—is not a work
magazine that is published irregularly. In
made for hire. Such a publication may not
2018, one issue was published in January,
be registered as a group. Each issue must be
another in March, another in July, and
separately registered on Form SE (see below).
another in December. The January and
March issues may be registered together,
EXAMPLE: Dr. Brown, an eminent urologist,
since they were published within 90 days
owns, publishes, writes, and edits a monthly
of each other. But the July and December
newsletter for urologists called Urine Analysis.
issues must be registered separately.
The newsletter is not a work made for
hire. This means that Dr. Brown must
register each newsletter issue separately—
Col ective work authorship must
be essential y all new
electronical y, or by mail using paper Form SE.
Group registration may be used only if the
Group registration unavailable for
collective work authorship—that is, the
periodicals published more than once
editing, compiling, revising, and other work
a week or less than four times a year
involved in creating each issue as a whole—
of all the issues being registered together
You may register together two or more
is essentially all new in terms of when the
issues of the same periodical so long as they work was done. It’s not exactly clear how
are published:
recently created a periodical issue must be
CHAPTER 3 | COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION | 65
to qualify as essentially all new, but as an
EXAMPLE 2: Assume that TWIT sel s the
outside time limit, each issue must have
Tipster to the Pol uters’ Trade Association
been created no more than one year prior to
(PTA), effective July 2018. As of July 1, TWIT
its publication.
has already overseen production of all the
monthly issues through September 2018.
The author and copyright claimant
The July, August, and September issues may
must be the same for all issues
not be registered together on Form SE/Group
because, while TWIT is the author of each,
The author of a magazine or another peri-
the PTA owns all the copyright rights in these
odical issue is the person(s) or organization
issues and is the copyright claimant.
responsible for the creation of the issue as
a whole, whether it employs an editorial
staff or freelance editors or uses volunteers.
First Submission for a Particular Serial
The author is normally the person(s) or
organization that owns the publication.
Before you register any serial publication as
To use group registration, the author of
a group for the first time, send an email to
all the periodical issues being registered
the Copyright Office Acquisitions Division
as a group and the copyright claimant in
at [email protected] indicating your intent to
the issues must be the same. As discussed
register. Include the following information:
above, the author of a publication is also
• name of publisher(s)/remitter(s)
the copyright claimant unless the author
• title(s)
transfers all of his or her copyright rights
• ISSN number(s) associated with the
to a third party. This means the author-
publication(s), if known, and
publisher of a periodical issue would
• complete contact information.
normally be the copyright claimant as well.
The Copyright Acquisitions Division
However, if the author-publisher transferred will review your submission and determine
his or her copyright rights to one or more of whether copies should be retained by the
the periodical issues to a third party, those
Library of Congress. (Although its col ections
issues could not be registered as a group.
are comprehensive, the Library of Congress
does not retain every serial title deposited
EXAMPLE 1: The Toxic Waste Tipster is a
in the Copyright Office.) It will inform you
monthly trade journal owned and published by writing of its decision. If the Copyright
by a corporation called Toxic Waste
Office elects to retain copies for the Library
Interment and Transport, Inc. (TWIT). TWIT of Congress, you’ll be required to provide
oversees the creation of each issue through
two complimentary subscriptions for the
its editorial staff. TWIT is the author and
periodical for the Library of Congress. This is
copyright claimant for each issue.
in addition to the normal deposit that must
66 | THE COPYRIGHT HANDBOOK
be submitted with your application. These
For non-U.S. works. If the issues were not
subscriptions must continue for as long as you published in the United States, you must
wish to use the group registration procedure.
list the country where the author is either
a citizen or currently resides, or state the
How to complete Form SE/Group
country in which the serial was published.
Filling out Form SE/Group is very simple.
Certification. The application must be
A fill-in version of the form is available at
signed by the copyright claimant or its duly
the Copyright Office website.
authorized agent. Type or print this person’s
name after the signature.
Space 1: Title and Date of Publication
Person to contact for correspondence about
this claim. In the spaces provided, indicate
Title. Fill in the publication’s complete title
the name and daytime telephone number
followed by:
(including area code) of the person whom the
• the International Standard Serial
Copyright Office should contact concerning
Number (ISSN) if available (see
the application. Also give such person’s
Chapter 2, “Copy right Notice ,” for
address if it is different from the address for
detailed discussion of ISSNs), and
mailing of the certificate (below).
• each issue’s volume, number, and
Deposit account. If the filing fee is to be
issue date appearing on the copies,
charged against a deposit account, give the
followed by the month, day, and year
name and number of the account in the space
of publication.
<
br /> indicated. Otherwise, leave the space blank
List the issues in order of publication.
and forward the fee with your application.
No previous registration under identical title.
Mail certificate to. Provide the complete
If you have never registered the identical title address where your registration certificate before, check the box at the left.
should be sent. (The certificate is merely a
stamped copy of your Form SE/Group.)
Space 2: Author and Copyright Claimant
Name and address of the author/copyright
Application fee
claimant in these collective works made for
If you don’t have a deposit account with the
hire. Give the fullest form of the author/
Copyright Office, submit a check for the
claimant’s name and mailing address. If there application fee payable to the Register of are joint authors and claimants, provide the
Copyrights with your application. The fee
names and addresses of each of them. (See
is $25 for each periodical issue being regis-
Chapter 7, “Initial Copyright Ownership,”
tered together online or by mail on Form
for discussion of joint authorship.)
SE/Group.
CHAPTER 3 | COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION | 67
Group Registration for Newspapers
An entire month’s issues must be registered
An entire calendar month’s worth of daily
To use group registration, an entire calendar
newspaper issues can be registered at one time month of daily newspaper issues must be
for a single $80 fee. You can register online or registered; no more and no less. This means by mail using the paper Form G/DN.
you’ll have to register 12 times a year.
What works qualify as daily newspapers
Microfilm deposit required
Any daily serial publication mainly
In one important respect, group registration
designed to be a primary source of written
of newspapers is unique. Instead of the
information on current events (local,
normal deposit of an actual copy of the
national, or international) qualifies as a
work being registered, the newspaper issues
daily newspaper so long as it contains
must be deposited in the form of a positive,
a broad range of news on all subjects
35mm silver-halide microfilm.
and activities and is not limited to any
If the newspaper is published in multiple
specific subject matter. Publications such
editions, the last (final) edition of all the
as newsletters on particular subjects and
issues must be deposited. However, it
daily racing forms do not qualify as daily
is permissible (but not required) to also
newspapers.
register and deposit earlier editions of the
newspaper published the same day in a
Requirements for Group Registration
given metro politan area. But national or
Group registration may be used only if the
regional newspaper editions distributed
news paper is an essential y al -new col ective beyond a given metropolitan area must be work made for hire. Virtually all daily
registered and deposited separately.
newspapers should be able to satisfy this
In some situations, you may be exempted
requirement since they are essentially all
from sending microfilm. The Copyright
new every day and are created by employee- Office will notify you if this is the case.
reporters and editors.
For an exempted newspaper, an optional
In addition, the author and copyright
deposit may accompany the application.
claimant must be the same person or
This deposit should consist of (1) complete
organiza tion. Again, this should pose no
print copies of the first and last issues of the
problem, because the author and claimant
month, or (2) print copies of the first section
will normally be the owner(s) of the
of the first and last issues of the month, or
newspaper.
(3) print copies of the first page of the first
and last issues of the month.
68 | THE COPYRIGHT HANDBOOK
Time limit for registration
or her authorized agent must sign in
Form G/DN must be filed with the Copy-
the certification space, and an address
right Office within three months after the
and phone number of the person to be
publication date of the last newspaper issue contacted about the registered issues must
included in the group.
be provided. If the claimant has a deposit
account with the Copyright Office and
Registration fee
wants the registration fee charged to it, the
Deposit Account space must be filled in;
There is an $80 registration fee.
otherwise, leave it blank.
Fil ing out Form G/DN
Group Registration for Newsletters
Form G/DN is the simplest of all registra-
tion forms. Here’s how to fill it out.
Newsletters may also be registered as a group,
whether online or by mail using Form G/DN.
Space 1: Title
For registration purposes, a daily newsletter
is serial pub lished and distributed by mail or
Identify the work being registered in Space 1 electronic media. Publication must occur at by giving the title of the newspaper, the
least two days per week, and the newsletter
month and year printed on the copies, the
must contain news or information of interest
number of issues in the group, the city and
chiefly to a special group—for example, trade
state, the edition, and, if known, the ISSN
and professional associations, corporations,
number.
schools, colleges, and churches. Daily newslet-
ters are customarily available by subscription
Space 2: Author and Copyright Claimant
and are not sold on newsstands.
Give in Space 2 the fullest form of the
The requirements are the same as those
author and claimant’s name (this will usually for newspapers covered in the preceding
be the owner of the newspaper). If there are
section, except for the following differences.
multiple owners, give all their names.
At least two issues must be registered
Space 3: Date of Publication
To use group registration for a newsletter,
List in Space 3 the exact full date on which you must register at least two issues that
the first and last newspaper issues being
were published within one calendar month
registered were published.
in the same year. The application must
Certification; correspondence; deposit
be filed within three months of the last
account. The copyright claimant or his
publication date of the newsletter issues
included in the group.
CHAPTER 3 | COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION | 69
Deposit requirements
Office. Up to 750 photographs can be regis-
One complete copy of each newsletter issue tered on a single application without having
>
included in the group must accompany the to identify the date of publication for each
registration. If the newsletter is published
photograph. If you’d like to register more
only online, one complete printout of each
than 750 photographs, you can still do so
issue or a computer disk or CD-ROM
with a single filing fee using Form VA, but
containing all the issues and a printout
you’ll need to identify the date of publication
of the first and last issues included in the
for each photograph on the images deposited
group must be sent. However, microfilm
with the application.
copies and complimentary subscriptions are
required only if requested by the Copyright Registering a Group
Office Acquisitions Division.
of Contributions to
Periodicals: Form GR/CP
Form GR/PPh/CON for Photographs
As discussed above, authors who retain
Photographers who retain copyright owner-
some of the rights in their contributions to
ship of their published photos can register
periodicals need to register them to obtain
all such photos they take within a single cal- the benefits of registration for their work.
endar year at one time for a single $65 regis- This is so regardless of whether the publisher tration fee. To qualify, all the photographs:
of the periodical registers the periodical issue
• must be by the same photographer
as a whole on one of the SE series of forms.
(even if an employer for hire is named
as author, only one photographer’s
EXAMPLE: Arnie, a freelance writer, sel s an
article to Newspeak Magazine. He grants
work can be included)
the magazine only the right to publish the
• must be published in the same calendar
article the first time in North America, and
year, and
retains his other copyright rights. When the
• must have the same copyright claimant.
publisher of Newspeak registers the issue
If the photos were published in news-
containing Arnie’s article, the article will not
papers or magazines, the photographer must
be covered by the serial registration. Arnie
own the copyright, not an employer for
must register the article himself for it to be
hire, such as a newspaper or photo agency.
fully protected.
To register, use Form GR/PPh/CON,
which includes Form VA (visual arts applica-
You can register each article you write
tion). You can fill out the form online at the
The Copyright Handbook Page 13