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, Third Edition • "Merc. Rec." for Mercury Records Corporation.

A generally known alternative designation for the copyright owner's full name may contain part of that name, the copyright owner's well-known initials, or a completely different name.

Examples:

• "Atlantic" for Atlantic Recording Corporation.

• "NBC" for National Broadcasting Company.

• "Melodium" for Genius Recording Co.

If the notice appears to identify the copyright owner to people who are likely to obtain copies or phonorecords of the work, the notice will be considered acceptable.

Likewise, if the name appearing in the notice is a pseudonym for an individual who is named in the application as a copyright claimant, the notice will be considered acceptable if the claimant is generally known by that pseudonym.

If the name, abbreviation, or alternative designation in the notice is so vague, truncated, or ambiguous that it could not identify any person or entity as a copyright owner, the U.S. Copyright Office will consider the work to be published without any name in the notice.

2205.2(E) Deceased Person Named in the Notice

A deceased person cannot own copyright or any other properly. If the work

was published during the owner's lifetime and the name provided in the notice was

correct, and if the work is submitted for registration after the owner's death,

the applicant must name the owner of all rights at the time the application is submitted

for registration and provide a transfer statement explaining how that party obtained

ownership of the copyright.

If the U.S. Copyright Office has reason to believe that the person named in the notice died before the first publication of the work, the Office will treat this as an error in the notice. If the publication was authorized by the copyright owner, the error will not affect the validity or ownership of the copyright in the work. However, it may allow a third party to assert an innocent infringement defense unless one of the following events has occurred:

• The work was registered in the name of the copyright owner before the alleged infringement began; or

• A document executed by the person named in the notice showing the ownership of the copyright was recorded before the alleged infringement began.

See 17 U.S.C. § 406(a).

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