Dates of Birth and Death: Leave this space blank if the author’s contribution
was a “work made for hire.” If the author is dead, the statute requires that the
year of death be included in the application unless the work is anonymous
or pseudonymous. The author’s birth date is optional but is useful as a form
of identification.
Nature of Authorship: Give a brief statement of the nature of the particular
author’s contribution to the work. If an organization directed, controlled, and
supervised the creation of the serial issue as a whole, check the box “collective
work.” The term “collective work” means that the author is responsible for
compilation and editorial revision and may also be responsible for certain
individual contributions to the serial issue. Further examples of “Authorship”
that may apply both to organizational and to individual authors are “Entire
text”; “Text and illustrations”; “Editorial revision, compilation, and additional
new material.”
3
SPACE 3: Creation and Publication
General Instructions: Do not confuse “creation” with “publication.”
Every application for copyright registration must state “the year in which cre-
ation of the work was completed.” Give the date and nation of first publication
only if the work has been published.
Creation: Under the statute, a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or
phonorecord for the first time. Where a work has been prepared over a pe-
riod of time, the part of the work existing in fixed form on a particular date
constitutes the created work on that date. The date you give here should be
the year in which this particular issue was completed.
Publication: The statute defines “publication” as “the distribution of copies or
phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership
or by rental, lease, or lending”; a work is also “published” if there has been an
“offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for pur-
poses of further distribution, public performance, or public display.” Give the
full date (month, day, year) when, and the country where, publication of this
particular issue first occurred. If first publication took place simultaneously in
the United States and other countries, it is sufficient to state “U.S.A.”
4
SPACE 4: Claimant(s)
Name(s) and Address(es) of Copyright Claimant(s): This space must
be completed. Give the name(s) and address(es) of the copyright claimant(s)
of this work even if the claimant is the same as the author named in space 2.
Copyright in a work belongs initially to the author of the work (including, in
the case of a work made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the
work was prepared). The copyright claimant is either the author of the work
or a person or organization to whom the copyright initially belonging to the
author has been transferred.
Transfer: The statute provides that, if the copyright claimant is not the author,
the application for registration must contain “a brief statement of how the
claimant obtained ownership of the copyright.” If any copyright claimant
named in space 4 is not an author named in space 2, give a brief statement
explaining how the claimant(s) obtained ownership of the copyright. Examples:
“By written contract”; “Transfer of all rights by author”; “Assignment”; “By
will.” Do not attach transfer documents or other attachments or riders.
5
SPACE 5: Previous Registration
General Instructions: This space rarely applies to serials. Complete
space 5 if this particular issue has been registered earlier or if it contains a
substantial amount of material that has been previously registered. Do not
complete this space if the previous registrations are simply those made for
earlier issues.
Previous Registration:
a. Check this box if this issue has been registered in unpublished form and a
second registration is now sought to cover the first published edition.
b. Check this box if someone other than the author is identified as copyright
claimant in the earlier registration and the author is now seeking registration
in his or her own name. If the work in question is a single contribution to a
collective work as opposed to the issue as a whole, do not file Form SE. Instead,
register the contribution on the Copyright Office website at www.copyright.
gov, or request Form TX from the Copyright Office.
c. Check this box (and complete space 6) if this particular issue or a substantial
portion of the material in it has been previously registered and you are now
seeking registration for the additions and revisions that appear in this issue
for the first time.
Previous Registration Number and Date: Complete this line if you checked
one of the boxes above. If more than one previous registration has been made
for the issue or for material in it, give only the number and year date for the
latest registration.
6
SPACE 6: Derivative Work or Compilation
General Instructions: Complete space 6 if this issue is a “changed
version,” “compilation,” or “derivative work” that incorporates one or more
earlier works that have already been published or registered for copyright or
that have fallen into the public domain. Do not complete space 6 for an issue
consisting of entirely new material appearing for the first time, such as a new
issue of a continuing serial. A “compilation” is defined as “a work formed
by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are
selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a
whole constitutes an original work of authorship.” A “derivative work” is “a
work based on one or more preexisting works.” Examples of derivative works
include translations, fictionalizations, abridgments, condensations, or “any
other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted.” Deriva-
tive works also include works “consisting of editorial revisions, annotations,
or other modifications” if these changes, as a whole, represent an original
work of authorship.
Preexisting Material (space 6a): For derivative works, complete this space
and space 6b. In space 6a identify the preexisting work that has been recast,
transformed, adapted, or updated. Example: “1978 Morgan Co. Sales Catalog.”
Do not complete space 6a for compilations.
Material Added to This Work (space 6b): Give a brief, general statement of the
new material covered by the copyright claim for which registration is sought.
Derivative work examples include: “Editorial revisions and additions to the
Catalog”; “Translation”; “Additional material.” If a periodical issue is a com
-
pilation, describe both the compilation itself and the material that has been
compiled. Examples: “Compilation of previously published journal articles”;
“Compilation of previously published data.” An issue may be both a derivative
work and a compilation, in which case a sample statement might be: “Compila
-
tion of [describe] and additional new material.”
7,8,9
SPACE 7,8,9: Fee, Correspondence,
Certication, Return Address
Deposit Account (space 7a): If you maintain a deposit
account in the Copyright Office, identify it in space 7a. Otherwise leave the
space blank and send the fee with your application and deposit.
Correspondence (space 7b): This space should contain the name, address,
area code, telephone and fax numbers, and email address of the person to be
consulted if correspondence about this application becomes necessary.
Certification (space 8): The application cannot be accepted unless it bears the
date and the signature of the author or other copyright claimant, or the owner
of exclusive right(s), or the duly authorized agent of the author, claimant, or
owner of exclusive right(s).
Address for Return of Certificate (space 9): The address box must be com-
pleted legibly because the certificate will be returned in a window envelope.
