1992 Policy Decision announcing withdrawal of chapter 1600.

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ANNOUNCEMENT." from the Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20559.
'a OF CO*
POLICY DECISION
RECORDATION OF DOCUMENTS
The following excerpt is taken from Volume 57, Number 117 of
the Federal Reeister for Wednesday,June 17,1992 (pp. 27074-27075)
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
~ a ~ n c v :	Library of Congrerr; Copyright
Office.
Acnon: Policy Decision. 	-
suuurm: The Copyright Office record8
vansfera and other documents relating
to copyright under the Copyright Act.
and documents relating to ma J works
under the Semiconductor Chip
Rotection Act of 1984. The
adminiatration of the recordation
fuctionr are governed by rections 203.
205,302(c)and 304(c)of the Copyright
Act and rection 903(b)of the
Semiconductor Chip ~ c t b - ..-
Regulations issued by the Copyright
Office under authority of the Copynght
Act are found in 37 CFR 201.4.201.10,
201.25. and 201.28. No ngulationr
concerning recordation have been
isrued under the Semiconductor Chip
Act. In addition. the Office irrued 	-
chapter 16 of the Compendium of
Copyright Office Racticer Il covering
practicer for the recordation of
documents in 1984. Thir announcement
ir to inform the public that the Office
continuer to record only.thore
documentr meetinx rtatutorv and
regulatory requirementr, bui no longer
examiner documents for comvliance
with all of the requirements set out in
chapter 16 of Compendium U.
r m c n n D A ~ .June 1 7 . 1 s ~ ~
FOR FURTHER IWtOmAtlON CONTACT:
Dorothy Schrader, General Comael. U.S.
Copynsht Office. Library of Conpeas,
Warhington. DC a0510.Telephone (202)
70743m.
m w u m N T A m v m F o m A o r t : The
Compendium of Copyright Office
Racticer Il ir a manual of practices
intended primarily for use of the rtaff of
the Copyright Office a8 a general guide
lo its examination of claim to
copyright. recordation of documents,
and related practicer. It ir not a book of
ruler meant to provide a ready-made
anrwer to all regirtration or recordation
questions that could arire. The practicer
of the Copyright office are rubject to
constant review and modification in the
light of new experience and continuing
reappraisal. Accordingly, additions,
deletionr. and amendments to practicer
are made from time to time.
Thir Policy Decirion announcer new
practicer with rerpect to recordation of
documents pertaining to copyright.
In the part. the Office would examine
a document not merely for compliance
with the requinments of the Copyright
A d and Office mgdationr. Aa a r e ~ c e
to the public and Inthe intereat of
creating an accurate record, the Office
would to a limited extent also examine
the document for formal rufficiency, i.e..
that it did not obviously fail to ratirfy
the legal requirements to be an effective
document The practicer the Office
followed in thir ward are among those
included in chapter 16 of Compendium
il. Thir depth of examination ir
necerrarily time consuming end labor
intensive erpecially given the
complexity and rize of rome documents.
The Omce har recently rearrerred its
practicer concerning recordation of
documentr with a view to minimize
delay8 in the recordation procerr. The
Omce her experienced a rubrtantial
increare in the number of documento
submitted for recordation in the lart few
y e w . erpecially after the decirion in
Notiond Peregrine, Inc. v. Capital
Federul Savilya o n d h Association
of Denver, 116 BR. 1M (C9.	Cal. 1900).
That care held that the Copynght A d
preempts the recordation provirionr of
article Nine of the Unifonn Commercial
Code which rpecified recordation in the
stater of "recurity interertr" in
copynghted works. "Secwity intereat"
documents are among some of the more
complex documents the Office receiver.
The Office generally doer not attempt
to judge the legal rufficiency or Interpret
the substantive content of any document
rubmitted for recordation. In the part it
har, however. rcreened the document
for obviour errom or dircrepencier and
brought there to the attention of the
redtter, without refusing to record the
document a r rubmitted. Because of the
increased number and cornplexity of
documents rubmitted for recordation.
the Office can no longer a m e n the
documents for content and mga* 	in
correspondence with the remitter over
apparent problem8 with the rrifficiency
of the document.
The Copyright Office continuer to
reauire that alldocumentr mnrt meet
.Enor; line drould d 	CEnor,lineshoshouM~ 	-
"Policy Decision: R e c a d d o n of Lkuma& 	"of the -fit 	Office me subject to"
bError, line should read: .. . ...
"Semiconductor Chip Act"
the requirements of the Copyright Act
(or the Semiconductor Chip Protection

Act. if applicable). and regulations
which are applicable to the type of
document submitted for recordation.
Chapter 10 of Compendium R is hereby
withdrawn and will be replaced in due
w u n e by a revised chapter 18. In
submitting documents for recordation.
the public should comply with the
Copyright Act (or the Semiconductor
Chip Protection Act. if applicable).
especially 17 U.S.C.. 203,205.302(~).
=(c). 	and 903(b), and also with
Copyright Office regulationr. 37 CFR.
201.4. m.lo.20l.25.and 20126.
In the case of section 205 transfers
(which constitute the bulk of recordable
documents). the statutory and regulatory
requirements can be a-ed 	up as
follows. Any transfer of copyright
ML-447
June1992-500
ownemhip or any other document
pertaining to a copyright may be
recorded if: (I]The document bears the
actual signature of the pemon who
executed it, or if the document is
accompanied by a sworn or ofiicial
certification that it is a true copy of the
original signed document; (2) the
document is complete by its own terms
or otherwise recordable: (3) the
document is legible and capable of
reproduction in legible microform
copies: and (4) it is accompanied by the
statutory rewrding fee.
Members of the public who submit
documents for recordation cannot n i y
on the Copyright Office to screen their
documents for even obvious errors in
formal sufficiency. The public is
therefore cautioned to review end
scrutinize any document to assure its.
fonnal sufficiency before submitting i t to
the Copyright Office for recordation. ' 	.
The Copyright Office will record the
document without examining it even for
obviow errom, but recordation may be- .. '
without legal effect u n l e r the remitter
has preparcd the document in a way
that sa tidies applicable legal
requirements.
Dated: May b 1992.
R.lphOaun,
Register ofC4pynghts.
Approved by:
JamemH.Billington.
The Libmrian of Congms~.
[FRD o t 9244110 Filed @-1W845 w]
m u a m CODL $4-Y