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, Third Edition 2122.2(A)

2122.2(B)

2122.2(C)

2122.2(D)

2122.3

Exception: In certain cases, when the applicant asserts that the renewal copyright in a song or musical work within a dramatic work vested separately in different parties, the U.S. Copyright Office may register separate renewal claims.

First Published in a Motion Picture

When a play, script, or screenplay was registered for the original term prior to the publication of a motion picture, renewal registration may be based on the original registration record. When the dramatic work was not registered prior to the publication of the motion picture, renewal registration is possible only if the published motion picture contained a separate copyright notice for the dramatic work.

NOTE: A renewal registration in a component element of a published motion picture, or in a work fixed and first published in a motion picture, cannot be based on the original registration for the motion picture.

Made Available Only in Rental Copies

As with musical works, when a dramatic work was made available only in rental copies prior to 1978, publication may or may not have occurred. See Section 2122.1(D). If publication did occur, renewal registration depends on whether the dramatic work was first published with the statutory or U.C.C. notice.

Released Only in a Phonorecord

Dramatic works released only in sound recordings on phonorecords were not considered published under the Copyright Act of 1909. See Section 2122.1(C).

Notice Requirements

Dramatic works first published in copies should bear the statutory or U.C.C. notice for books. If the work was first published in a motion picture, the separate notice should appear in the credits. For more information about notice requirements, see U.S. Copyright Office, Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices Chs. 4, 8.2, & Supplementary Practice Nos. 18, 19, 27, 29, 35 & 37 (1st ed. 1973), available at http:/ / copyright.gov/ comp3 / chap2 1 00/ doc/appendixA-noticerequirements.pdf.

Choreography and Works Containing Choreography

The 1909 Act did not recognize choreography as a distinct category of copyrightable authorship. A choreographic work was eligible for federal copyright protection only to the extent that it qualified as a "dramatic composition." To satisfy this requirement, a choreographic work had to tell a story, develop a character, or express a theme or emotion by means of specific movements and physical actions. See U.S. Copyright Office, Study No. 28: Copyright in Choreographic Works at 176 (1960).

The U.S. Copyright Office registered choreographic works for the original term as published or unpublished "dramatico-musical compositions." Copyright Office regulations promulgated under the 1909 Act stated that:

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