Who May File an Application

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C O M P E N D I U M : Chapter 400
Who May File an Application
401 What This Chapter Covers.............................................................................................................................................. 2
402 Who Is the Applicant? ...................................................................................................................................................... 2
403 Who Is the Correspondent? ........................................................................................................................................... 3
404 Who Is the Claimant?........................................................................................................................................................ 3
405 Applications Filed by or on Behalf of the Author .................................................................................................. 3
405.1 Joint Works........................................................................................................................................................................... 4
405.2 Minors .................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
405.3 Intellectually Disabled Persons .................................................................................................................................... 5
405.4 Prisoners ............................................................................................................................................................................... 5
405.5 Deceased Authors .............................................................................................................................................................. 5
405.6 Foreign Authors.................................................................................................................................................................. 5
406 Applications Filed by or on Behalf of a Copyright Owner Who Owns All of the Exclusive Rights ..... 5
407 Applications Filed by an Owner of One or More — But Less than All — of the Exclusive Rights ..... 5
408 Exclusive Licensees and Nonexclusive Licensees ................................................................................................. 6
409 Authorized Agents ............................................................................................................................................................. 6
410 Who May File the Application: At a Glance .............................................................................................................. 7

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Who May File an Application
401 What This Chapter Covers
This Chapter provides general information on who may file a copyright claim with the
Standard Application or a paper application. It also provides general information on
who may file an application for a group registration or supplementary registration.
For information on who may file a claim with the Single Application, or an application
for a renewal registration or GATT registration, see the following chapters:
• For the Single Application, see Chapter 1400, Section 1405.
• For renewal registrations, see Chapter 2100, Section 2115.5.
• For GATT registrations, see Chapter 2000, Section 2007.2(A)(2).
For information on who may file a claim for a mask work or vessel design see: Chapter
1200, Section 1211, and
Chapter 1300, Section 1311.2.For information on who may record a transfer of
ownership, a notice of termination, or other documents pertaining to copyright, , see
Chapter 2300, Sections 2309.4, 2310.6, 2311, 2312.1, 2313.5, and 2314.6.
402 Who Is the Applicant?
The applicant is the party who signs the certification and submits the application to the
U.S. Copyright Office. Any of the following parties may certify and submit an application
to register a copyright claim:
• The author of the work;
• The owner of all the exclusive rights in the work;
• The owner of one or more — but less than all — of the exclusive rights in the work;
or
• A duly authorized agent of any of the foregoing parties.
No other parties are entitled to file an application for copyright registration. See 17
U.S.C. § 408(a) (stating that “the owner of copyright or of any exclusive right in the work
may obtain registration of the copyright claim”); see also 37 C.F.R. § 202.3(c)(1) (specifying
the parties who may submit an application for copyright registration); Registration of
Copyright: Definition of Claimant, 77 Fed. Reg. 29,257, 29,258 (May 17, 2012).

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403 Who Is the Correspondent?
When completing an application, the applicant must provide the name, address, and
other contact information for the person or persons whom the Office should contact if
the registration specialist has questions or concerns regarding the application. This
person is referred to as the correspondent.
In most cases, the correspondent and the applicant are the same person, because the
correspondent typically certifies and submits the application. In all cases, the
correspondent must be:
• An author of the work;
• An owner who owns all of the exclusive rights in the work;
• An owner of one or more — but less than all — of the exclusive rights in the work;
or
• A duly authorized agent of one or more of the foregoing parties.
As a general rule, the U.S. Copyright Office will send all communications concerning an
application or a registration to the correspondent at the address provided in the
registration record.
For guidance in completing the Correspondent field/space of the application, see
Chapter 600, Section 622.2. For information on who may certify an application, see
Chapter 600, Section 624.
404 Who Is the Claimant?
The only parties who are eligible to be the copyright claimant are (i) the author of the
work, or (ii) a copyright owner who owns all of the exclusive rights in the work. 37
C.F.R. § 202.3(a)(3). A person or entity who owns one or more — but less than all — of
the exclusive rights in a work is not eligible to be a claimant. See Part 202 - Registration
of Claims to Copyright, 43 Fed. Reg. 965, 965 (Jan. 5, 1978); Registration of Copyright:
Definition of Claimant, 77 Fed. Reg. 29,257, 29,258 (May 17, 2012).
Although the author or the copyright owner who owns all of the rights are the only
parties who are entitled to claim ownership of the copyright, an application to register
that claim may be certified and submitted by any of the parties listed in Section 402. In
some cases, the applicant and the claimant may be the same party, while in other cases
they may be different.
405 Applications Filed by or on Behalf of the Author
An author is either (i) the person or persons who created the work, or (ii) the employer
or other person for whom the work was prepared, if the work was created during the
course of employment or commissioned as a work made for hire. The author may be
either a U.S. or a foreign citizen.

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If the author owns all of the rights under the copyright on the date that the application is
filed, the author must be named in the application as the copyright claimant. The author
or the author’s duly authorized agent may certify and submit an application to register
that claim. In the situation where the author certifies and submits the application, the
author is considered both the applicant and the claimant. If the author’s duly authorized
agent certifies and submits the application, the author is still the claimant but the
author’s agent is considered the applicant.
The author may always be named as the copyright claimant even if the author has
transferred the copyright or one or more of the exclusive rights to another party, or
even if the author does not own any of the rights at the time the application is filed. See
generally Registration of Copyright: Definition of Claimant, 77 Fed. Reg. 29,257, 29,258
(May 17, 2012); Registration of Claims to Copyright, 43 Fed. Reg. 965, 965 (Jan. 5, 1978).
If the author transferred all of the rights in a work to another party, either the author or
the transferee may be named as the copyright claimant, and the application may be
submitted by the author, the transferee, or their respective agents. If the author
transferred only some of his or her rights to another party, the author must be named as
the copyright claimant, and the application to register the copyright in the author’s
name may be filed by any of the parties listed in Section 402 (i.e., the author, an owner of
one or more exclusive rights, or their respective agents).
405.1 Joint Works
The U.S. Copyright Office will accept an application filed by or on behalf of one or more
authors of a joint work if the application is otherwise proper and complete. The
application must identify all of the authors of the joint work.
If a joint author transferred all of his or her rights to a third party, either the joint author
or the transferee may be named as a copyright claimant, and the application may be
filed by the joint author, the transferee, or their respective agents. If a joint owner
transferred only some of his or her rights to a third party, the joint author must be
named as the copyright claimant, although the application to register the copyright in
the joint author’s name may be filed by the transferee or any of the other parties listed
in Section 402.
405.2 Minors
Minors may claim copyright, and the U.S. Copyright Office will accept applications
submitted either by or on behalf of a minor if the application is otherwise proper and
complete.
Minors may appoint a duly authorized agent to file the application on their behalf, such
as a parent, guardian, or other qualified agent. Because registration records are open to
the public, the applicant should not provide any private or confidential information in
the application that is not required for registration if the applicant does not wish to
make that information public. Any information that is provided in the application may
be made available to the general public through the Office’s online database. Once the
Office issues a certificate of registration, in most cases it cannot remove any information
from the registration record, including a minor’s name, address, or year of birth.

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405.3 Intellectually Disabled Persons
Intellectually disabled persons may claim copyright, and the U.S. Copyright Office will
accept applications submitted either by or on behalf of such persons, provided the
application is otherwise proper and complete. If a committee or guardian has been
appointed for a person adjudged to be incompetent, such committee or guardian
generally should submit the application as a duly authorized agent of the applicant.
405.4 Prisoners
An incarcerated person may claim copyright, and the U.S. Copyright Office will accept
applications submitted either by or on behalf of an inmate of a prison or other penal
institution if the application is otherwise proper and complete.
405.5 Deceased Authors
The U.S. Copyright Office will accept applications that name a deceased author as the
copyright claimant. Likewise, the Office will accept applications submitted by or on
behalf of a claimant who owns all of the rights that initially belonged to a deceased
author, such as the author’s estate, a devisee, or an heir.
405.6 Foreign Authors
The U.S. Copyright Office will register works created by a foreign author if the work is
eligible for copyright protection in the United States. U.S. copyright law protects the
unpublished works of all authors (domestic or foreign) as long as the work is not in the
public domain. Published works of foreign authors may be eligible for protection in the
United States if they satisfy the requirements described in Chapter 2000, Section 2003.
406 Applications Filed by or on Behalf of a Copyright Owner Who Owns All
of the Exclusive Rights
A transferee who owns all of the rights in the copyright may be named in the application
as the copyright claimant. An application to register the copyright in the transferee’s
name may be certified and submitted by the author of the work, by the transferee, or by
their respective agents. In this situation, the transferee is considered to be the claimant,
and—depending on who submitted the application—the author, the transferee, or the
authorized agent of the author or the transferee is considered the applicant.
407 Applications Filed by an Owner of One or More — But Less than All —
of the Exclusive Rights
Any of the exclusive rights that make up a copyright or any subdivision of those rights
can be transferred and owned separately. 17 U.S.C. § 201(d)(2). A party who owns one
or more — but not all — of the rights that initially belonged to an author cannot be
named as a copyright claimant. See 37 C.F.R. § 202.3(a)(3). However, an owner of one or
more of the exclusive rights may submit an application to register the copyright in the
author’s name. In this situation, the author is considered to be the claimant, and the
owner of the exclusive right(s) is considered the applicant. See generally Registration of
Copyright: Definition of Claimant, 77 Fed. Reg. 29,257, 29,258-59 (May 17, 2012).

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408 Exclusive Licensees and Nonexclusive Licensees
An exclusive licensee is a party who has been granted one or more of the exclusive
rights set forth in Section 106 of the Copyright Act, or any subdivision of those rights.
Exclusive licensees are considered owners of those right(s) during the term of the
license. A nonexclusive licensee is a party who has the right to use a work or an
exclusive right in the work, but does not have the right to prevent others from using the
same work. Nonexclusive licensees are not owners of the right(s) or parts thereof, but
rather, they are considered authorized users.
The Copyright Act states that only “the owner of copyright or of any exclusive right in
the work may obtain registration of the copyright claim.” 17 U.S.C. § 408(a). Although an
exclusive licensee who owns one or more of the exclusive rights is entitled to submit an
application, only an exclusive licensee who owns all of the exclusive rights in a work is
entitled to be named as a copyright claimant. 37 C.F.R. § 202.3(a)(3). An exclusive
licensee with less than all rights may submit an application by naming the author as the
claimant.
As a general rule, a nonexclusive licensee is not entitled to be named as a copyright
claimant or to submit an application to register a copyright claim, because a
nonexclusive licensee is neither the “owner of copyright or of any exclusive right in the
work.” 17 U.S.C. § 408(a); see also 17 U.S.C. § 101 (definition of “transfer of copyright
ownership,” which explicitly excludes nonexclusive licenses). A nonexclusive licensee
may certify or submit an application to register the copyright only if the licensee is a
duly authorized agent acting on behalf of the author or a person or entity that owns all
of the rights under copyright that initially belonged to the author.
409 Authorized Agents
An author, a copyright owner who owns all of the rights in the work, or an owner of one
or more of the exclusive right(s) may use a duly authorized agent to submit an
application on their behalf. Examples of such agents include, but are not limited to, legal
guardians, business managers, literary agents, and attorneys.
In most cases, the correspondent is a duly authorized agent of one or more of the parties
listed above, and as a general rule, the U.S. Copyright Office will direct all
communications concerning the application to that person. See Section 403.
The Office imposes no special qualifications or tests for authorized agents (including
attorneys) before they may file applications or otherwise conduct business with the
Office. Nor does the Office require applications to be prepared or submitted by an
attorney. In certain special cases the Office may suggest that the claimant consider
seeking legal advice, but the Office does not furnish the names of copyright attorneys,
publishers, agents, or other similar information. See 37 C.F.R. § 201.2(a)(2).
As a general rule, the Office will accept the statement on the application certifying that
the person who signs the application is an authorized agent of the author or an owner of
the exclusive rights in the work. In some circumstances, the Office may ask an alleged
agent to submit documentation showing that he or she is in fact authorized to act for
one or more of those parties.

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410 Who May File the Application: At a Glance
The following chart is intended to assist potential applicants in determining who may
file an application and who may be named as a claimant:
Who owns the rights? Who may be named as
claimant?
Who may file the application?
The author of the work
owns all of the rights
The author The author
or
An authorized agent of the author
The author of the work
owns some — but not all —
of the rights
The author The author
or
An owner of one or more of the exclusive
rights
or
An authorized agent of one or more of
the aforementioned parties
The author of the work
owns none of the rights
The author
and/or
The transferee who owns
all of the rights
The author
or
The transferee who owns all of the
rights
or
An owner of one or more — but not all—
of the exclusive rights
or
An authorized agent of one or more of
the aforementioned parties
A transferee owns all of the
rights
The author
and/or
The transferee who owns
all of the rights
The author
or
The transferee who owns all of the
rights
or
An authorized agent of one or more of
the aforementioned parties

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Who owns the rights? Who may be named as
claimant?
Who may file the application?
A transferee owns some —
but not all — of the rights
The author The author
or
An owner of one or more of the exclusive
rights
or
An authorized agent of one or more of
the aforementioned parties
An exclusive licensee owns
all of the rights
The author
and/or
The exclusive licensee who
owns all of the rights
The author
or
The exclusive licensee who owns all of
the rights
or
An authorized agent of one or more of
the aforementioned parties
An exclusive licensee owns
some — but not all — of the
rights
The author The author
or
An owner of one or more of the exclusive
rights
or
An authorized agent of one or more of
the aforementioned parties