Page:Compendium of US Copyright Office Practices (1973).pdf/451

S-96 No. 29

SINGLE PAGE RULE FOR COPYRIGHT NOTICES

The following practices should be observed in examining claims to copyright in single page works.

A copyright notice appearing anywhere on a single folded sheet may be accepted in Classes A, B, D, E, and F through K. This rule applies only if the folded sheet may, unopposed by any mechanical device (such as stitching, stapling, etc.), be opened out into one single sheet.

The basis for this rule is that in many cases involving folded material the "faces" or "pages" are not paginated and the folds are such that it may be difficult to ascertain which portion of the folded sheet is the title page, the page immediately following the title page, or the first page of text, etc. Thus, the Office considers that the title page can be ascertained only when the sheet is entirely unfolded. If it then appears that an adequate notice is on one side or the other of the unfolded single sheet, registration will not be denied on the grounds of a misplaced notice.

Where registrations are being made on this basis inClasses A, D, and F through K, it will not be necessary to write a warning letter. The rationale here is that since the notice for a book or a dramatic work should appear either "upon its title page or the page immediately following," a notice either on the side of the single sheet containing the title or on the other side would meet this requirement. In the case of works registrable in Classes F through K, the law does not specify any exact pod tion :for the notice; consequently, a notice on any accessible portion of the work is acceptable. 3-67