Page:Copyright Office Compendium 3rd Edition - Full.djvu/1016

, Third Edition 2115.4(D) When Authorship Statement is Required

An authorship statement is required when given in the original registration record or when the extent of the renewal claim, or the contribution of an author, is not clear from other information provided in Form RE.

2115.5 Vested Owner Information

This space of Form RE provides information about the party in whom the renewal copyright vested, and may provide information regarding ownership of the renewal copyright at the time of registration. At least one party must be identified as a vested owner and an acceptable statement must be provided as to the statutory basis for that vested owner's claim to the renewal copyright. Generally, the vested owner is a statutory renewal claimant, but for information concerning the effect of a timely renewal registration, see Section 2115.5(D). While the vesting date generally has not been given in Form RE, 16 it is the first fact that has to be determined in order to identify the parties entitled to claim the renewal copyright.

2115.5(A) Determining When the Renewal Copyright Vested

For purpose of renewal term registration, the renewal copyright vested on the first day of the renewal term. For works that secured copyright from 1950 through 1977, the renewal term began on January 1st of the 29th year following the effective date of registration as an unpublished work or the date of first publication.

Exception: When a work was first published with an earlier year date in the copyright notice, the renewal copyright vested on January 1 of the 29th year from the year date in the copyright notice. See Section 2115.2(B).

Generally the vesting date is clear, but when the facts of first publication are not known, or a work was first published with multiple year date(s) in the copyright notice, or when an error or omission in an original registration record calls into question when the original term began or ended, it may be difficult to determine the vesting date. When it appears that the renewal ownership information may be premised on an inaccurate vesting date, the U.S. Copyright Office will advise the applicant, and may refuse registration until the discrepancy is resolved. Likewise, when an applicant is unable to

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16 Before 2007 (when Form RE was revised), renewal claims filed on behalf of a current owner provided the name of the vested owner and the vesting date in the basis of claim statement.

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