[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: 37CFR202.17]
[Page 428-431]
TITLE 37--PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, AND COPYRIGHTS
CONGRESS
PART 202--REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO COPYRIGHT--Table of Contents
Sec. 202.17 Renewals.
(a) General. This section prescribes rules pertaining to the
application for renewal copyright under section 304(a) of title 17 of
the United States Code, as amended by Public Law 102-307.
(b) Definition. For purposes of this section, the term posthumous
work means a work that was unpublished on the date of the death of the
author and with respect to which no copyright assignment or other
contract for exploitation of the work occurred during the author's
lifetime.
(c) Renewal registration optional. For works originally copyrighted
between January 1, 1964 and December 31, 1977 renewal registration is
optional and not a condition for securing copyright for the new and
extended forty-seven year second term. As provided in Public Law 102-
307, 106 Stat. 264 (Act of June 26, 1992), however, renewal of copyright
by registration during the last year of the original term and renewal
registration during the forty-seven year extended term of a copyright
renewed without registration by operation of Public Law 102-307 differ
in legal effect. Among other effects, renewal of copyright by
registration during the last year of the original term vests the renewal
copyright in the statutory renewal claimant(s) living on the date of
registration.
(d) Original term registration. (1) Registration of a claim to
copyright in the original twenty-eight year term is not a pre-condition
for making a renewal registration, provided the renewal application is
accompanied by an Addendum to Form RE and the deposit copy, phonorecord,
or identifying material specified in paragraph (h) of this section.
(2) Original term registration can only be made before the
expiration of the original term of copyright in the work.
(e) Renewal time limits. (1) For works originally copyrighted
between January 1, 1964, and December 31, 1977, claims to renewal
copyright may be registered within the last year of the original term,
which begins on December 31 of the 27th year of the copyright, and runs
through December 31 of the 28th year of the copyright, or at anytime
during the extended forty-seven year second term, if the second term is
renewed by operation of Public Law 102-307, 106 Stat. 264. The original
copyright term for a published work is computed from the date of first
publication; the term for a work originally registered in unpublished
form is computed from the date of registration in the Copyright Office.
To vest the renewal copyright by registration, the required renewal
application, fee, and, if original term registration has not been made,
the Addendum specified in paragraph (h) of this section must be received
in the Copyright Office during the prescribed period before the first
term of copyright expires. The Copyright Office has no discretion to
extend the renewal time limits for vesting of the renewal copyright by
registration.
(2) The provisions of paragraph (e)(1) of this section are subject
to the following qualification: In order to vest the renewal copyright
by registration in any case where the year date in the notice on copies
distributed by authority of the copyright owner is earlier than the year
of first publication, claims to renewal copyright must be registered
within the last year of the original copyright term, which begins on
December 31 of the 27th year from the year contained in the notice, and
runs through December 31 of the 28th year from the year contained in the
notice.
(3) Whenever a renewal applicant has cause to believe that a formal
application for renewal, which is intended to vest the renewal copyright
by registration, and any accompanying Addendum relating to subsistence
of first-term copyright, if sent to the Copyright Office by mail, might
not be received in the Copyright Office before expiration of the time
limits provided by 17 U.S.C. 304(a) for vesting of the renewal copyright
by registration, he or she may
[[Page 429]]
apply for renewal registration by telegraphic, telefacsimile, or similar
written communication. An application made by this method will be
accepted only if:
(i) The message is received in the Copyright Office within the
specified time limits for vesting by registration;
(ii) The applicant adequately identifies the work involved, the date
of first publication or original registration, the name and address of
the renewal claimant, and the statutory basis of the renewal claim;
(iii) The fee for renewal registration, if not already on deposit,
is received in the Copyright Office before the time for renewal
registration has expired; and
(iv) A formal application for renewal (Form RE) (or a fax copy) and
in the case of works under paragraph (h) of this section, an
accompanying Addendum relating to the subsistence of first-term
copyright are also received in the Copyright Office before April 1 of
the following year.
(f) Renewal claimants. (1) Except as otherwise provided by
paragraphs (f) (2) and (3) of this section, renewal claims may be
registered only in the name(s) of the eligible person(s) falling within
one of the following classes of renewal claimants specified in section
304(a) of the copyright law. If the work was a new version of a previous
work, renewal may be claimed only in the new matter. If the renewal
claim is submitted during the last year of the original term of
copyright, the renewal must be made in the name(s) of the statutory
claimant(s) entitled to claim the renewal on the date the renewal claim
is submitted to the Copyright Office for registration. If the renewal
claim is submitted during the forty-seven year renewal term, the renewal
claim can only be registered in the name(s) of the statutory claimant(s)
entitled to claim the renewal on the last day (December 31st) of the
original term of copyright.
(i) In the case of any posthumous work or of any periodical,
encyclopedia, or other composite work upon which the copyright was
originally secured by the proprietor thereof, the renewal claim may be
registered in the name of the proprietor;
(ii) In the case of any work copyrighted by a corporate body
(otherwise than as assignees or licensees of the individual author) or
by an employer for whom such work is made for hire, the renewal claim
may be registered in the name of the proprietor; and
(iii) In the case of any other copyrighted work, including a
contribution by an individual author to a periodical or to a cyclopedic
or other composite work, the renewal claim may be registered in the
name(s) of the following person(s) in descending order of eligibility:
(A) The author of the work, if still living;
(B) The widow, widower, or children of the author, if the author is
not living;
(C) The author's executors, if there is a will and neither the
author nor any widow, widower, or child of the author is living;
(D) The author's next of kin, in the absence of a will and if
neither the author nor any widow, widower, or child of the author is
living.
(2) The provisions of paragraph (f)(1) are subject to the following
qualification: Notwithstanding the definition of ``posthumous work'' in
paragraph (b) of this section, a renewal claim may be registered in the
name of the proprietor of the work, as well as in the name of the
appropriate claimant under paragraph (f)(1)(iii), in any case where a
contract for exploitation of the work but no copyright assignment in the
work has occurred during the author's lifetime. However, registration by
the Copyright Office in this case should not be interpreted as
evidencing the validity of the claim.
(3) The provisions of paragraphs (f)(1)(iii) (C) and (D) of this
section are subject to the following qualifications:
(i) In any case where:
(A) The author has left a will which names no executor;
(B) The author has left a will which names an executor who cannot
or will not serve in that capacity; or
(C) The author has left a will which names an executor who has been
discharged upon settlement of the estate or removed before the estate
has been completely administered, the renewal claim may be registered
either in the
[[Page 430]]
name of an administrator cum testamento annexo (administrator c.t.a.) or
an administrator de bonis non cum testamento annexo (administrator
d.b.n.c.t.a.) so appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(ii) In any case described in paragraph (f)(3)(i) of this section,
except in the case where the author has left a will without naming an
executor and a court appointed administrator c.t.a. or administrator
d.b.n.c.t.a. is in existence at the time of renewal registration, the
renewal claim also may be registered in the name of the author's next of
kin. However, registration by the Copyright Office of the conflicting
renewal claims in these cases should not be interpreted as evidencing
the validity of either claim.
(g) Application for renewal registration. (1) Each application for
renewal registration shall be submitted on Form RE. Copies of Form RE,
and if applicable, the Addendum to Form RE, are available free upon
request to the Public Information Office, United States Copyright
Office, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20559.
(2)(i) An application for renewal registration may be submitted by
any eligible statutory renewal claimant as specified in paragraph (f) of
this section or by the duty authorized agent of any such claimant.
(ii) An application for renewal registration shall be accompanied by
the appropriate fee, as required in Sec. 201.3(c). The application shall
contain the information required by the form and its accompanying
instructions, and shall include a certification. The certification shall
consist of:
(A) A designation of whether the applicant is the renewal claimant,
or the duly authorized agent of such claimant (whose identity shall also
be given);
(B) The handwritten signature of such claimant or agent, accompanied
by the typewritten or printed name of that person;
(C) A declaration that the statements made in the application are
correct to the best of that person's knowledge; and
(D) The date of certification.
(iii) In the case of an application for renewal registration of a
work for which no original registration was made, the application shall
be accompanied by an Addendum and deposit material in accordance with
paragraph (h) of this section.
(3) Once a renewal registration has been made, the Copyright Office
will not accept a duplicate application for renewal registration on
behalf of the same renewal claimant.
(h) Addendum for an unregistered work--(1) Content. If original
term registration is not timely made for a work, the renewal application
Form RE must be accompanied by an Addendum to Form RE which must contain
the following information:
(i) The title of the work;
(ii) The name of the author(s);
(iii) The date of first publication of the work;
(iv) The place of first publication of the work;
(v) The citizenship of the author(s) on the date of first
publication of the work;
(vi) The domicile of the author(s) on the date of first publication
of the work;
(vii) An averment that, at the time of first publication, all the
copies of the work published under the authority of the author or other
copyright proprietor bore the copyright notice required by the Copyright
Act of 1909, title 17 of the United States Code in effect on December
31, 1977, and that United States copyright subsists in the work; and
(viii) For works of United States origin which were subject to the
manufacturing provisions of section 16 of the Copyright Act of 1909 as
it existed at the time the work was published, the Addendum must also
contain information about the country of manufacture and the
manufacturing processes.
(2) Signature. The Addendum must contain the handwritten signature
of the renewal claimant or the duly authorized agent of the renewal
claimant. The signature shall (i) be accompanied by the printed
typewritten name of the person signing the Addendum and by the date of
the signature; and (ii) shall be immediately preceded by the following
printed or typewritten statement in accordance with section 1746 of
title 28 of the United States Code:
[[Page 431]]
I certify under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United
States of America that the foregoing is true and correct.
(3) Deposit requirement for an unregistered work. In addition to the
Addendum to Form RE, an application for renewal registration of a work
for which no original term registration is made must be accompanied by
one copy or phonorecord or identifying material of the work as first
published in accordance with the deposit requirements set out in
Secs. 202.20 and 202.21 of the Copyright Office regulations for basic
registration.
(4) Waiver of the deposit requirement. In a case where the renewal
applicant asserts that it is either physically impossible or otherwise
an undue hardship to satisfy the deposit requirements of Secs. 202.20
and 202.21, the Copyright Office, at its discretion, may, upon receipt
of an acceptable explanation of the inability to submit such copy or
identifying material, permit the deposit of the following in the
descending order of preference:
(i) A reprint, photocopy, or identifying reproduction of the work as
first published; or
(ii)(A) A photocopy of the title page of the work as first
published;
(B) A photocopy of the page of the work as first published bearing
the copyright notice;
(C) A specification as to the location, relative to each other, of
the title and notice pages of the work as first published, if the pages
are different; and
(D) A brief description of the copyrightable content of the work,
which is sufficient to enable the Copyright Office to examine the work.
The Examining Division of the Copyright Office may request deposit of
additional descriptive material if the original submission is
inadequate.
[57 FR 60483, Dec. 21, 1992, as amended at 64 FR 29522, June 1, 1999]