Page:Copyright Office Compendium 3rd Edition - Full.djvu/57

, Third Edition If the Office determines that a work possesses sufficient creativity, it will register the claim and issue a. Conversely, if the Office determines that the work does not possess some minimal degree of creativity, it will refuse registration.

For more information on works that do not satisfy the creativity requirement, see through  below.

309&emsp;Examining a Work for Copyrightable Authorship

As discussed in, the U.S. Copyright Office will examine a work of authorship to determine if “the material deposited constitutes copyrightable subject matter” and if “the other legal and formal requirements have been met.” 17 U.S.C. § 410(a). In determining whether a work is copyrightable, the will consider (i) the application, (ii) the, (iii) whether the correct the [sic]  was submitted, as well as (iv) any communications between the  and the Office relating to the registration of the  or any other material that has been submitted to the Office. Together, these items are referred to as the “.”

As discussed in through, a work may be copyrightable (i) if it is eligible for copyright protection in the United States, (ii) if the work has been  in a tangible medium of expression, (iii) if the work was created by a human author, (iv) if the work constitutes copyrightable subject matter, and (v) if the work contains at least a minimum amount of creative authorship that is original to the author.

When examining a claim to copyright, the registration specialist will use objective criteria to determine whether the work satisfies these requirements by reviewing the information provided in the application and by examining the deposit copy(ies), including its individual elements as well as the work as a whole. The specific criteria that the specialist will consider when examining a, a , or a are discussed in  and. The specific criteria that the specialist will consider when examining a, a work of the performing arts, or a work of the visual arts are discussed in , , and.

309.1&emsp;Prior Works and Prior Registrations

As a general rule, the will not search the U.S. Copyright Office’s records to determine if the work has been registered before, unless there is conflicting information in the registration materials or other sources of information that are known by the Office or the general public. The specialist will not compare the with other works that have been previously registered with the Office. Likewise, the specialist generally will not compare the deposit copy(ies) with other works to determine whether the is attempting to register a work that is substantially similar to another work of authorship, unless the applicant appears to be asserting a  in a work that is unusually similar to another work of authorship that is known to the specialist.

309.2&emsp;Facts Stated in the Application

The U.S. Copyright Office generally will accept the facts stated in the application and other registration materials, unless they are implausible or conflict with information in Chapter 300 : 11