Page:Copyright Office Compendium 3rd Edition - Full.djvu/64

, Third Edition Fed. Reg. 37,605, 37,606 (June 22, 2012). Thus, a compilation or a collective work must qualify as a ; a musical work; a dramatic work; a or ; a ; a  or ; a ; and/or an. See id. If the authorship involved in creating the compilation or collective work as a whole (i.e., the author’s selection, coordination, and/or arrangement) does not fall within one or more of the congressionally established categories of authorship, the may communicate with the  if the authorship appears questionable or may refuse registration. Id.

"Examples:
 * The Office may register a work comprised of rocks that are selected, coordinated, arranged, and in such a way as to result in a sculptural work. Likewise, the Office may register a photograph of a rock, a drawing of a handtool, or a written expression of an idea. However, the Office cannot register a mere “compilation of ideas,” a mere “selection and arrangement of handtools,” or a mere “compilation of rocks,” because ideas, handtools, and rocks do not constitute copyrightable subject matter under Section 102(a) of the Copyright Act.
 * The Office may register a photograph of food if the photographer exercised some minimal level of creativity in taking the picture. However, the Office cannot register a “compilation of food” based on a selection, coordination, and/or arrangement of items on a plate, because food does not constitute copyrightable subject matter under Section 102(a) of the Copyright Act. Although a sculptural depiction of a plate of food may be copyrightable, that would not prevent actual food from being arranged in the same way. See 17 U.S.C. § 113(b).
 * The Office may register a in a compilation containing the names of the author’s fifty favorite restaurants. While a restaurant or the name of a restaurant does not constitute copyrightable subject matter under Section 102(a) of the Act, a list of restaurant names may constitute a literary work, which is one of the congressionally established categories of authorship."

See id. at 37,607.

312.2&emsp;The Originality Requirement for Compilations

A may contain several distinct forms of authorship: Chapter 300 : 18
 * Selection authorship involved in choosing the material or data that will be included in the compilation;