U.S. Copyright Office - Code of Federal Regulations

201.5 Corrections and amplifications of copyright registrations; applications for supplementary registration. (a) General. (1) This section prescribes conditions relating to the filing of an application for supplementary registration, to correct an error in a copyright registration or to amplify the information given in a registration, under section 408(d) of title 17 of the United States Code, as amended by Pub. L. 94-553. For the purposes of this section: (i) A basic registration means any of the following: (A) A copyright registration made under sections 408, 409, and 410 of title 17 of the United States Code, as amended by Pub. L. 94-553; (B) A renewal registration made under section 304 of title 17 of the United States Code, as so amended; (C) A registration of claim to copyright made under title 17 of the United States Code as it existed before January 1, 1978; or (D) A renewal registration made under title 17 of the United States Code as it existed before January 1, 1978; and (ii) A supplementary registration means a registration made upon application under section 408(d) of title 17 of the United States Code, as amended by Pub. L. 94-553, and the provisions of this section. (2) No correction or amplification of the information in a basic registration will be made except pursuant to the provisions of this §201.5. As an exception, where it is discovered that the record of a basic registration contains an error that the Copyright Office itself should have recognized at the time registration was made, the Office will take appropriate measures to rectify its error. (b) Persons entitled to file an application for supplementary registration; grounds of application. (1) Supplementary registration can be made only if a basic copyright registration for the same work has already been completed. After a basic registration has been completed, any author or other copyright claimant of the work, or the owner of any exclusive right in the work, or the duly authorized agent of any such author, other claimant, or owner, who wishes to correct or amplify the information given in the basic registration for the work may file an application for supplementary registration. 1 1 If the person who, or on whose behalf, an application for supplementary registration is submitted is the same as the person identified as the copyright claimant in the basic registration, the Copyright Office will place a note referring to the supplementary registration on its records of the basic registration. (2) Supplementary registration may be made either to correct or to amplify the information in a basic registration. For the purposes of this section: (i) A correction is appropriate if information in the basic registration was incorrect at the time that basic registration was made, and the error is not one that the Copyright Office itself should have recognized; (ii) An amplification is appropriate: (A) To supplement or clarify the information that was required by the application for the basic registration and should have been provided, such as the identity of a co-author or co-claimant, but was omitted at the time the basic registration was made, or (B) To reflect changes in facts, other than those relating to transfer, license, or ownership of rights in the work, that have occurred since the basic registration was made. (iii) Supplementary registration is not appropriate: (A) As an amplification, to reflect a change in ownership that occurred on or after the effective date of the basic registration or to reflect the division, allocation, licensing or transfer of rights in a work; or (B) To correct errors in statements or notices on the copies of phonorecords of a work, or to reflect changes in the content of a work; and (iv) Where a basic renewal registration has been made for a work during the last year of the relevant first-term copyright, supplementary registration to correct the renewal claimant or basis of claim or to add a renewal claimant is ordinarily possible only if the application for supplementary registration and fee are received in the Copyright Office within the last year of the relevant first-term copyright. If the error or omission in a basic renewal registration is extremely minor, and does not involve the identity of the renewal claimant or the legal basis of the claim, supplementary registration may be made at any time. In an exceptional case, however, supplementary registration may be made to correct the name of the renewal claimant and the legal basis of the claim at any time if clear, convincing, objective documentation is submitted to the Copyright Office which proves that an inadvertent error was made in failing to designate the correct living statutory renewal claimant in the basic renewal registration. (c) Form and content of application for supplementary registration. (1) An application for supplementary registration shall be made on a form prescribed by the Copyright Office, shall be accompanied by the appropriate fee identified in §201.3(c) and shall contain the following information: (i) The title of the work as it appears in the basic registration, including previous or alternative titles if they appear; (ii) The registration number of the basic registration; (iii) The year when the basic registration was completed; (iv) The name or names of the author or authors of the work, and the copyright claimant or claimants in the work, as they appear in the basic registration; (v) In the case of a correction: (A) The line number and heading or description of the part of the basic registration where the error occurred; (B) A transcription of the erroneous information as it appears in the basic registration; (C) A statement of the correct information as it should have appeared; and (D) If desired, an explanation of the error or its correction; (vi) In the case of an amplification: (A) The line number and heading or description of the part of the basic registration where the information to be amplified appears; (B) A clear and succinct statement of the information to be added; and (C) If desired, an explanation of the amplification; (vii) The name and address: (A) To which correspondence concerning the application should be sent; and (B) To which the certificate of supplementary registration should be mailed; and (viii) The certification shall consist of: (A) The handwritten signature of the author, other copyright claimant, or owner of exclusive right(s) in the work, or of the duly authorized agent of such author, other claimant or owner (who shall also be identified); (B) The typed or printed name of the person whose signature appears, and the date of signature; and (C) A statement that the person signing the application is the author, other copyright claimant, or owner of exclusive right(s) in the work, or the authorized agent of such author, other claimant, or owner, and that the statements made in the application are correct to the best of that person's knowledge. (2) The form prescribed by the Copyright Office for the foregoing purposes is designated "Application for Supplementary Copyright Registration (Form CA)". Copies of the form are available free upon request to the Public Information Office, Library of Congress, Copyright Office, 101 Independence Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20559-6000. (3) Copies, phonorecords or supporting documents cannot be made part of the record of a supplementary registration and should not be submitted with the application. (d) Effect of supplementary registration. (1) When a supplementary registration is completed, the Copyright Office will assign it a new registration number in the appropriate class, and issue a certificate of supplementary registration under that number. (2) As provided in section 408(d) of title 17, the information contained in a supplementary registration augments but does not supersede that contained in the basic registration. The basic registration will not be expunged or cancelled. (Pub. L. 94-553; 17 U.S.C. 205, 408(d), 601(b), 702, 708) [43 FR 773, Jan. 4, 1978, as amended at 56 FR 59885, Nov. 26, 1991; 57 FR 60482, Dec. 21, 1992; 60 FR 34168, June 30, 1995; 62 FR 35421, July 1, 1997; 63 FR 59236, Nov. 3, 1998; 63 FR 66042, Dec. 1, 1998; 64 FR 29521, June 1, 1999; 65 FR 39819, June 28, 2000; 65 FR 48914, Aug. 10, 2000; 66 FR 34372, June 28, 2001]