individually using the Copyright Office’s
Copy right Office’s website and then print it
online registration system. However, at $35
out and postal mail it to the Copyright
per registration, individually registering
70 | THE COPYRIGHT HANDBOOK
a substantial number of articles or other
stories. She could register those eight stories
periodical contributions each year can be
as a group, but not the four stories that
very expensive.
did not have a copyright notice. For those
Fortunately, a writer may register all of
remaining stories, Jean would have to use
the articles he or she writes in any 12-month
four Forms TX.
period as a group on one application for one
$85 application fee.
How to Apply for Group Registration
Who Qualifies for Group Registration
To apply for group registration you must
complete two forms: the appropriate basic
A single copyright registration for a group
application form (Form TX or Form PA),
of works can be made only if all of the
and Form GR/CP. However, you will only
following are true:
be required to pay a single registration fee.
• All of the works are by the same author
who is an individual—that is, not a
Fil ing out Form TX or Form PA
work made for hire—or all the works
are by the same coauthors.
You’ll be using Form TX unless you’re
• All of the works were first published as registering a group of previously published
individual contributions to periodicals plays, screenplays, song lyrics, or other
(including newspapers, magazines,
dramatic works.
newsletters, and journals) within any
single 12-month period (not necessarily Space 1: (Title of this work)
a calendar year).
State “See Form GR/CP, attached.” Leave
• All of the works have the same copy-
the rest of Space 1 blank.
right claimant.
Space 3
EXAMPLE 1: Jean published 12 short stories
in various literary journals from July 2017 to
Give the year of creation of the last
July 2018. She retained the copyright for all
contribution you completed. Leave blank
the stories. Each story contained a copyright the date and nation of first publication.
notice listing “Jean Davis” as the copyright
owner. Jean may register all 12 stories as a
How to complete Form GR/CP
group at one time.
Form GR/CP gives the Copyright Office
EXAMPLE 2: Assume that a copyright
some basic information about each individual
notice appeared on only eight of Jean’s short article or other contribution being registered.
CHAPTER 3 | COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION | 71
Part A
number (if any) and the issue date. Also, list
the pages in the periodical issue on which
Identification of basic application. Check the
box showing which basic application form
the articles appeared.
you are using, either Form TX or Form PA.
Date and nation of first publication.
Fill in the date and country in which
Identification of author and claimant. Give
the name of the author and the copyright
the periodical issue that the article or
claimant of all the contributions you’re
other contribution appeared in was first
registering. These names should be the same published.
as the names given in Spaces 2 and 4 of
your basic application and must be the same Effect of Group Registration
for all the contributions being registered.
All of your articles or other contributions
are protected by registration on the date the
Part B
Copyright Office receives your application.
The Copyright Office prefers that you
If any of the registered articles are copied
list the contributions in the order of
after that date, you are entitled to all the
their publication, giving the earliest
benefits of timely copyright registration
first. You should also number each space
(that is, statutory damages and attorneys’
consecutively in the box provided. Form
fees). However, if any of the contributions
GR/CP has space for 19 contributions. If
were copied before the registration date, you
you need to register more than that number, will not be entitled to statutory damages
use an additional Form GR/CP.
and attorneys’ fees unless the registration
For each article or other contribution
was made within three months after the
being registered, provide the following.
first publication of the contribution. This
Title of contribution. If the article
is not nearly as confusing as it sounds.
contained a title or identifying phrase,
Consider these examples.
use it. Otherwise, make up a title that
identifies the particular contribution and
EXAMPLE 1: Percy used the group
registration procedure to register ten of his
distinguishes it from the other contributions
published articles. The Copyright Office
you’re registering.
received Percy’s application on March 15,
Title of periodical and identifying informa-
2018. One of Percy’s articles was copied by
tion. Fill in the complete name of the
Bob after March 15. If Percy sues Bob, he
periodical in which the article was first
will be entitled to statutory damages and
published. Give the volume and issue
attorneys’ fees.
72 | THE COPYRIGHT HANDBOOK
EXAMPLE 2: Assume instead that Bob
How Often Should You Register?
copied two of Percy’s articles before Percy
filed his group registration application
When you register an online work,
on March 15. Article A was published
the registration extends only to the
on January 15; Article B was published in
copyrightable content received by the
November of the preceding year. Percy is
Copyright Office in your deposit and
entitled to statutory damages and attorneys’ identified as the subject of the claim. The fees for the infringement of Article A,
application for registration should exclude
but not for Article B. Reason: Article A
any material that has been previously
was registered within three months after
registered or published, or work that’s in
publication, but Article B was not.
the public domain. If you characterize the
work as published, the registration only
covers the material published on the date
CAUTION
of publication given in the application.
Example 2 illustrates the one draw-
Material published before this date will
back of group registration: If you wait more
not be covered by the registration. This
than
three months after an article is published
means that where an online work is
so that you can register it together with other
frequently revised, each revision would
articles for one fee, you will lose the benefits
have to be separately registered. But this
of timely registration of that article for any
is only if the online work is characterized
infringement occurring before the Copyright
as published. If it’s unpublished, you can
Office receives your application. If you feel that
register any amount of material at one time
an article or other periodical contribution is
as an unpublished collection for a single
extremely valuable, make sure that it is registered application fee.
within three months of publication, even if you
It’s up to you to decide whether a website
have to register it by itself. If you publish a large
has been published or not—no one knows
number of articles every year, you should make a for sure what constitutes publication on the group registration every three months.
Internet, and the Copyright Office will not
second-guess you. So, if you characterize
the website as unpublished, you can register
Registering Online Works
all the material you’ve created up to the
date of registration. Theoretically, you could
You register websites and other online works register a frequently revised website as little much the same way any other material is
as once a year, or even less, so long as it’s
registered.
characterized as unpublished. However, it’s
CHAPTER 3 | COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION | 73
a good idea to register at least every three
In addition, if your work is an online
months. If you sue someone for copyright
daily blog, newsletter, newspaper, magazine,
infringement, this avoids any possibility
or other serial publication, you can register
that the alleged infringer could claim your
several weeks’ or months’ worth of issues
registration was not timely.
together at one time for one application
In some cases, a frequently updated
fee by using the Copyright Office’s group
online work may constitute an automated
registration procedure discussed above.
database. A group of updates to a database,
published or unpublished, covering up
Registering Online
to a three-month period within the same
calendar year, may be combined in a single Online works can be registered using the
registration. All updates from a three-
Copyright Office’s online registration
month period may be registered with a
system. Registration is completed in the
single application and filing fee. See below
same manner as for any other work, with
for instructions on registering automated
the following exceptions.
databases. If you’re not sure whether your
website qualifies as an automated database, Author Created
contact the Copyright Office and ask them. Describe the original authorship being
registered. Use terms that clearly refer to
Group Registration of Online
cop yrightable authorship. Examples are
Serials and Newsletters
“text,” “compilation,” “music,” “artwork,”
“photographs,” “audiovisual material”
Group registration (a single registration
(including sounds), or “sound recording”
covering multiple issues published on
(when the sounds do not accompany a series
different dates) is available for serials
of images).
(published weekly or less often) and daily
Do not use terms that refer to elements
newsletters (published more often than
that are not protected by copyright, or that
weekly), including those published online.
may be ambiguous—for example, “website,”
The requirements vary, depending on the
“interface,” “format,” “layout,” “design,”
type of work (see above). However, group
registration for serials is available only if
“look of website,” “lettering,” “game,” or
the claim is in a “collective work.” So, group
“concept.”
registration is not available for electronic
Date of Publication
journals published one article at a time,
because such works are not collective works.
As discussed above, it’s up to you to decide
whether a website or another online work
has been published.
74 | THE COPYRIGHT HANDBOOK
Published works: If you determine that
The authorship may include text, artwork,
your work is published, give the complete
sculpture, cinematography, photography,
date and nation of first publication. For a
sounds, music, or choreography. The media
revised version, the publication date should may include printed matter, such as a book; be the date the revised version was first
audiovisual material, such as videotape,
published, not the date the original version slides, or filmstrips; a phonorecord, such
first appeared online. For registration
as an audio tape or audio disk; or any
purposes, give a single nation of first
machine-readable copy, such as a computer
publication, which may be the nation
disk, tape, or chip. Any work combining
from which the work is uploaded. If the
two or more types of authorship in two
same work is published both online and
or more different types of media is a
by the distribution of physical copies, and
multimedia work and may be registered
these events occur on different dates, the
using the procedures discussed in this
publication date should refer to whichever
section. For example, a book combined
occurred first.
with a filmstrip or an audio tape would be a
Unpublished works: If you determine that multimedia work.
your work is unpublished, leave the “date
It is always permissible to register each
of publication” and “nation of publication”
element of a multimedia work separately—
spaces on the application blank. Do not
manual, text, photos, video, and so on.
write “Internet,” “home page,” or any other However, it may not be necessary to do so.
term in this space.
An entire multimedia work can be regis-
tered at one time on one registration form
for one fee, if both of the following are true:
Registering Multimedia Works
• The copyright claimant is the same
Multimedia works, or electronic books,
for all elements of the work for which
combine text with visual images (both still
copyright protection is sought.
photos and video and film clips) and sound
• All such elements are published at the
(including music, ordinary speech, and
same time as a single unit
(excluding
dramatic performances). Software is usually
preexisting elements, such as photos,
included to enable the user to search,
music, and video, which will not be
retrieve, and manipulate the material.
covered by the registration).
However, multimedia works are not
An example will help make these rules
limited to electronic books. For copyright
clear. Assume that a company, Scrivener
registration purposes, a multimedia work
& Sons, has developed an electronic book
is any work which, excluding its container,
containing a history of the Iraq War. The
combines authorship in two or more media. e-book consists of text, photos, video,
CHAPTER 3 | COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION | 75
and music. Scrivener is the copyright
A multimedia work is registered in the
owner of the text, which was written by
same way as any other work.
its employees and freelancers. All other
material was licensed by Scrivener—that
Database Software Must
is, it obtained permission to copy and
Also Be Registered
distribute it from the copyright owners.
Scrivener does not own the copyright in any
The discussion below is only about how to
of these individual photos, videos, or music.
register the selection and arrangement of the
However, Scrivener does own a compilation
contents of a computer-automated database.
copyright in the entire e-book—that is, a
It does not cover registration of computer
copyright in the selection, arrangement,
software designed to be used with databases
and coordination of all the material
to facilitate retrieval of the data. Software
in the book, which was performed by
registration is beyond the scope of this book.
Scrivener employees and work-for-hire
freelancers. This selection, arrangement,
and coordination constitutes a work of
Registering Contents of
authorship if original and minimally
Automated Databases
creative. (See Chapter 6, “Adaptations and
Compilations.”)
An automated database is a body of facts,
Scrivener may register all the elements
data, or other information assembled into
to which it claims copyright ownership—
an organized format suitable for use on a
the text it owns and the compilation
computer. Since most databases are frequently
copyright covering all the material—on
The Copyright Handbook Page 14