Page:Copyright Office Compendium 3rd Edition - Full.djvu/317

, Third Edition "Examples:


 * Willie Park submits an application to register an oil painting that he found in his attic. Willie names his great-grandfather as the author of the work and he states that the author died in 1965. House of Oil Artwork, LLC is named as the copyright claimant and the transfer statement reads “by assignment.” The registration specialist will ask the applicant to provide a statement describing the chain of title from the author to the copyright claimant.
 * Michele Roth submits an application to register an song written by Bob Marley in 1964. Michele names herself as the copyright claimant “by written agreement.” There is no apparent link between the applicant and Bob Marley, and the applicant has not identified the party who transferred the copyright to Michele. The registration specialist will ask the applicant to provide a statement describing the chain of title from the author to the copyright claimant."

620.10(C)&emsp;Unacceptable Transfer Statements

The U.S. Copyright Office will not accept a indicating that the  obtained the copyright through an oral agreement; a statement indicating that the claimant does not own all of the rights under copyright that initially belonged to the author; a statement that merely describes the relationship between the author and claimant; or a statement that merely references the material object in which the work has been. Each of these topics is discussed in below.

620.10(C)(1)&emsp;Transfer by Oral Agreement

As discussed above, the copyright in a work created and/or first on or after January 1, 1978 cannot be transferred by an oral agreement, unless the agreement has been memorialized in a written note or memorandum signed by the copyright owner or the owner’s duly. 17 U.S.C. § 204(a).

If the states or suggests that the copyright was transferred to the  by oral agreement, the  will communicate with the  to determine whether the agreement was confirmed in a written document signed by the copyright owner. If so, the specialist will ask the applicant for permission to amend the transfer statement to read “by written agreement.”

If the oral agreement has not been confirmed in writing, the specialist will ask the applicant for permission to name the author of the work as the sole copyright claimant.

620.10(C)(2)&emsp;Transfer of One or More—but Less than All—of the Rights under Copyright

As discussed in, the author of the work or a person or entity that owns all of the rights under copyright are the only parties entitled to be named as a. If the states or suggests that the copyright claimant is a Chapter 600 : 185