[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 37, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 1999]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 37CFR201.2]
[Page 340-342]
TITLE 37--PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, AND COPYRIGHTS
CONGRESS
PART 201--GENERAL PROVISIONS--Table of Contents
Sec. 201.2 Information given by the Copyright Office.
(a) In general. (1) Information relative to the operations of the
Copyright Office is supplied without charge. A search of the records,
indexes, and deposits will be made for such information as they may
contain relative to copyright claims upon application and payment of the
statutory fee. The Copyright Office, however, does not undertake the
making of comparisons of copyright deposits to determine similarity
between works.
(2) The Copyright Office does not furnish the names of copyright
attorneys, publishers, agents, or other similar information.
(3) In the administration of the Copyright Act in general, the
Copyright Office interprets the Act. The Copyright Office, however, does
not give specific legal advice on the rights of persons, whether in
connection with particular uses of copyrighted works, cases of alleged
foreign or domestic copyright infringement, contracts between authors
and publishers, or other matters of a similar nature.
(b) Inspection and copying of records. (1) Inspection and copying of
completed records and indexes relating to a registration or a recorded
document, and inspection of copies or identifying material deposited in
connection with a completed copyright registration may be undertaken in
the Certifications and Documents Section. Since some of these materials
are not stored on the immediate premises of the Copyright Office, it is
advisable to consult the Certifications and Documents Section to
determine the length of time necessary to produce the requested
materials.
(2) It is the general policy of the Copyright Office to deny direct
public access to in-process files and to any work (or other) areas where
they are kept. However, direct public use of computers intended to
access the automated equivalent of limited portions of these files is
permitted on a specified terminal in the Records Maintenance Unit, LM B-
14, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, upon payment of
applicable fees.
(3) Information contained in Copyright Office in-process files may
be obtained by anyone upon payment of applicable fees and request to the
Information and Reference Division, in accordance with the following
procedures:
(i) In general, all requests by the public for information in the
in-process and open unfinished business files should be made to the
Certifications and Documents Section, which upon receipt of applicable
fees will give a report that provides the following for each request:
(A) The date(s) of receipt of:
(1) The application(s) for registration that may have been submitted
and is (are) in process;
(2) The document(s) that may have been submitted for recordation and
is (are) in process;
(3) The copy or copies (or phonorecords) that may have been
submitted;
(B) The title of the work(s); and
(C) The name of the remitter.
(ii) Such searches of the in-process files will be given priority to
the extent permitted by the demands of normal work flow of the affected
sections of the Copyright Office.
(4) Access will be afforded as follows to pending applications for
registration, the deposit material accompanying them, and pending
documents for recordation that were submitted
[[Page 341]]
within the twelve month period immediately preceding the request for
access:
(i) In the case of applications for registration and deposits
accompanying them, upon the request of the copyright claimant or his/her
authorized representative, and
(ii) In the case of documents, upon the request of at least one of
the persons who executed the document or by an authorized representative
of that person.
These requests should be made to the Public Information Office, and the
review of the materials will be permitted there. No charge will be made
for reviewing these materials; the appropriate search fee identified in
Sec. 201.3(c) or Sec. 201.3(d) will be assessed, and the appropriate
copying fee identified in Sec. 201.3(c) or Sec. 201.3(d) will be
assessed if the claimant wants and is entitled to a copy of the
material.
(5) In exceptional circumstances, the Register of Copyrights may
allow inspection of pending applications and open correspondence files
by someone other than the copyright claimant, upon submission of a
written request which is deemed by the Register to show good cause for
such access and establishes that the person making the request is one
properly and directly concerned. The written request should be addressed
to Copyright GC/I&R, P.O. Box 70400, Southwest Station, Washington, DC
20024.
(6) In no case will direct public access be permitted to any
financial or accounting records.
(7) The Copyright Office maintains administrative staff manuals
referred to as its ``Compendium of Office Practices I'' and ``Compendium
of Office Practices II'' for the general guidance of its staff in making
registrations and recording documents. The manuals, as amended and
supplemented from time to time, are available for purchase from the
National Technical Information Service (Compendium I) and the Government
Printing Office (Compendium II). They are also available for public
inspection and copying in the Certifications and Documents Section.
(c) Correspondence. (1) Official correspondence, including
preliminary applications, between copyright claimants or their agents
and the Copyright Office, and directly relating to a completed
registration, a recorded document, a rejected application for
registration, or a document for which recordation was refused is
available for public inspection. Included in the correspondence
available for public inspection is that portion of the file directly
relating to a completed registration, recorded document, a rejected
application for registration, or a document for which recordation was
refused which was once open to public inspection as a closed case, even
if the case is subsequently reopened. Public inspection is available
only for the correspondence contained in the file during the time it was
closed because of one of the aforementioned actions. Correspondence
relating to the reopening of the file and reconsideration of the case is
considered part of an in-process file until final action is taken, and
public inspection of that correspondence is governed by Sec. 201.2(b).
Requests for reproductions of the correspondence shall be made pursuant
to paragraph (d) of this section.
(2) Correspondence, application forms, and any accompanying material
forming a part of a pending application are considered in-process files
and access to them is governed by paragraph (b) of this section.
(3) Correspondence, memoranda, reports, opinions, and similar
material relating to internal matters of personnel and procedures,
office administration, security matters, and internal consideration of
policy and decisional matters including the work product of an attorney,
are not open to public inspection.
(4) The Copyright Office will return unanswered any abusive or
scurrilous correspondence.
(d) Requests for copies. (1) Requests for copies of records should
include the following:
(i) A clear identification of the type of records desired (for
example, additional certificates of registration, copies of
correspondence, copies of deposits).
(ii) A specification of whether the copies are to be certified or
uncertified.
(iii) A clear identification of the specific records to be copied.
Requests
[[Page 342]]
should include the following specific information, if possible:
(A) The type of work involved (for example, novel, lyrics,
photograph);
(B) The registration number;
(C) The year date or approximate year date of registration;
(D) The complete title of the work;
(E) The author(s) including any pseudonym by which the author may be
known; and
(F) The claimant(s); and
(G) If the requested copy is of an assignment, license, contract, or
other recorded document, the volume and page number of the recorded
document.
(iv) If the copy requested is an additional certificate of
registration, include the fee. The Certifications and Documents Section
will review requests for copies of other records and quote fees for
each.
(v) The telephone number and address of the requestor.
(2) Requests for certified or uncertified reproductions of the
copies, phonorecords, or identifying material deposited in connection
with a copyright registration of published or unpublished works in the
custody of the Copyright Office will be granted only when one of the
following three conditions has been met:
(i) The Copyright Office receives written authorization from the
copyright claimant of record or his or her designated agent, or from the
owner of any of the exclusive rights in the copyright as long as this
ownership can be demonstrated by written documentation of the transfer
of ownership.
(ii) The Copyright Office receives a written request from an
attorney on behalf of either the plaintiff or defendant in connection
with litigation, actual or prospective, involving the copyrighted work.
The following information must be included in such a request:
(A) The names of all the parties involved and the nature of the
controversy;
(B) The name of the court in which the actual case is pending or, in
the case of a prospective proceeding, a full statement of the facts of
the controversy in which the copyrighted work is involved; and
(C) Satisfactory assurance that the requested reproduction will be
used only in connection with the specified litigation.
(iii) The Copyright Office receives a court order for reproduction
of the deposited copies, phonorecords, or identifying material of a
registered work which is the subject of litigation. The order must be
issued by a court having jurisdiction of the case in which the
reproduction is to be submitted as evidence.
(3) When a request is made for a reproduction of a phonorecord, such
as an audiotape or cassette, in which either a sound recording or the
underlying musical, dramatic, or literary work is embodied, the
Copyright Office will provide proximate reproduction. The Copyright
Office reserves the right to substitute a monaural reproduction for a
stereo, quadraphonic, or any other type of fixation of the work accepted
for deposit.
[50 FR 30170, July 24, 1985, as amended at 51 FR 30062, Aug. 22, 1986;
62 FR 35421, July 1, 1997; 64 FR 29520, June 1, 1999]