[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 4, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 16306-16311]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6174]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Copyright Office

37 CFR Part 202

[Docket No. RM 2007-3]


Registration of Claims to Copyright--Renewals

AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Copyright Office is proposing to amend its regulations 
governing applications for registration of claims to the renewal term 
of copyright. This notice seeks public comment on the proposed amended 
regulations, which will take into account the fact that, since January 
1, 2006, all applications for renewal have necessarily related to works 
which are subject to automatic renewal and, thus, are already in their 
renewal terms, making impossible any 28th- year registration of claims 
to the renewal term.

DATES: Comments are due May 4, 2007.

ADDRESSES: If hand delivered by a private party, an original and five 
copies of a comment or reply comment should be brought to Library of 
Congress, U.S. Copyright Office, 2221 S. Clark Street, 11th Floor, 
Arlington, VA. 22202, between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. The envelope should 
be addressed as follows: Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Copyright 
Office. If delivered by a commercial courier, an original and five 
copies of a comment or reply comment must be delivered to the 
Congressional Courier Acceptance Site (``CCAS'') located at 2nd and D 
Streets, NE, Washington, DC between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. The envelope 
should be addressed as follows: Office of the General Counsel, U.S. 
Copyright Office, LM-401, James Madison Building, 101 Independence 
Avenue, SE, Washington, DC. Please note that CCAS will not accept 
delivery by means of overnight delivery services such as Federal 
Express, United Parcel Service or DHL. If sent by mail (including 
overnight delivery using U.S. Postal Service Express Mail), an original 
and five copies of a comment or reply comment should be addressed to 
U.S. Copyright Office, Copyright GC/I&R, P.O. Box 70400, Southwest 
Station, Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanette Petruzzelli, Special Legal 
Advisor for Reengineering, P.O. Box 70400, Washington, DC 20024-0400. 
Telephone: 202-707-8350. Telefax: 202-707-8366.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The 1976 Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 101, et. seq., carried over 
provisions for the continued protection of certain works first 
published or registered for copyright under the 1909 Copyright Act. 
Reenacting and preserving the provisions of section 24 of the 1909 law 
for all works which were then in their first term of copyright 
protection, Section 304(a) of Title 17 as originally enacted in 1976 
provided that renewal registration had to be made during the 28th year 
of the original term of copyright in order to secure the additional 
(then 47) years of renewal-term protection. 17 U.S.C. 304(a) (1976).
    In 1992, Congress enacted a revision of section 304(a) of Title 17 
which made renewal copyright automatic for works first published or 
registered from January 1, 1964, through December 31, 1977. This 
amendment allowed the renewal right to vest without registration of: 
[a] the claim to copyright during the original, 28-year term; or, [b] 
the claim to renewal copyright during the year immediately prior to the 
beginning of the renewal term (i.e., during the 28th year); or, [c] the 
claim to renewal copyright during the renewal term. Pub. L. No. 102-
307, 106 Stat. 264, enacted June 26, 1992. In order to encourage 
renewal registration and provide a public record of renewal rights, 
however, Congress also amended section 304(a) to provide certain 
benefits to a party who undertook the renewal registration within the 
28th year of the original term of copyright. These benefits for works 
with timely renewal registrations include:
    1. A certificate of registration constitutes prima facie evidence 
as to the validity of the copyright during its renewal term and of the 
facts stated in the certificate. 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(4)(B).
    2. A derivative work prepared under the authority of a grant of a 
transfer or license of copyright in a work made before the expiration 
of the original term of copyright may not continue to be used under the 
terms of the grant during the renewal term without the authority of the 
owner of the renewal copyright. 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(4)(A).
    3. A renewal copyright vests upon the beginning of the renewal term 
in the

[[Page 16307]]

party who was entitled to claim the renewal of copyright at the time 
the application was made as provided under 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(2)(A)(i) 
and (B)(i).
    Registration of a claim to the renewal term has also been possible 
since the 1992 amendment at any time during the renewal term, i.e., at 
any time beyond the 28th year of the original term of copyright. 17 
U.S.C. 304(a)(3)(A)(ii). Such renewal registration may be made whether 
or not an original-term registration was previously made. If no 
original-term registration was made, the renewal term applicant must 
provide information, under the provision of 17 U.S.C. 409 (11), 
regarding the original term of copyright. Such information must 
demonstrate that the work submitted for renewal registration complies 
with all requirements of the 1909 Act with respect to the existence, 
ownership, or duration of the copyright for the original term of the 
work. The Addendum to Form RE has been used to provide this information 
to the Copyright Office.
    The 1992 amendment further provided that, where no renewal 
registration has been made in the name of a party identified as 
entitled to the renewal right in the statute at 304(a)(1)(B) and (C), 
an application form may be filed at any time during the renewal term by 
any successor or assignee of such statutorily-enumerated party. Section 
304(a)(3).

II. End of 28th-Year Renewal Registration

    The Copyright Act of 1909 ceased to be effective on January 1, 
1978. For all works published before January 1, 1978, where the year 
date in the copyright notice on published copies or phonorecords 
distributed by authority of the copyright owner was earlier than the 
year date of first publication, claims to renewal copyright must have 
been registered during the last year of the original copyright term as 
that term was computed from the year date in the copyright notice. For 
purposes of renewal registration, this year period began on December 31 
of the 27th year from the year date appearing in the notice and ran 
through December 31 of the 28th year from the year date appearing in 
the notice rather than being computed from the year date of actual 
first publication. This ameliorative principle arose from case law 
under the 1909 Act and essentially benefitted the copyright owner by 
providing an alternative to the complete loss of copyright in instances 
of a wrong, i.e., earlier, year date in the copyright notice. Further, 
for works governed by the 1909 copyright law, in effect until December 
31, 1977, the original copyright term for a published work was computed 
from the date of first publication; the original term for a work first 
registered in unpublished form was computed from the date of 
registration in the Copyright Office.
    On January 1, 1978, the Copyright Act of 1976, Pub. L. No. 94-553, 
90 Stat. 2541 (October 19, 1976), became effective. The extensively 
revised copyright law provided that any work unpublished and not 
registered as of January 1, 1978, or published on or after that date, 
was to be governed by the 1976 statute and was to receive a term of 
protection provided by section 302 of the statute. However, for any 
copyright, the first term of which was subsisting on January 1, 1978, 
such term was to last 28 years with a possibility of a 47-year renewal 
term. Further, Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827, enacted October 27, 
1998, changed the renewal term for works under copyright protection as 
of that date from 47 to 67 years.
    Thus, works first published or registered for their original term 
of copyright on or before December 31, 1977, constitute the category of 
works for which the renewal structure is applicable. Any such work 
could have an original term of copyright of 28 years, assuming 
compliance with all applicable requirements of the 1909 statute, and no 
work governed by the carried-over renewal provisions of section 304(a) 
of Title 17 may possess an original term of copyright extending beyond 
December 31, 2005, i.e., 28 years after December 31, 1977. Thus, 
December 31, 2005, was the last day on which a work first published or 
originally registered as unpublished during the effective period of the 
1909 copyright law could have been submitted for renewal registration 
during the 28th year of its original term of copyright and be eligible 
for the benefits listed above.

III. Continuation of Post-28th Year Renewal Registration

    After January 1, 2006, works that were first published or 
registered as unpublished for the original term of copyright between 
1964 and 1977 will continue to be amenable to renewal registration. 
Concerning works eligible for renewal registration since 1992, 
statutory claimants and successors or assignees of such statutory 
claimants may file applications for the renewal term.
    A claim to the renewal term must be registered in the name of the 
statutory claimant in whom the renewal copyright vested on the last day 
of the original term of copyright. 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(2)(A)(ii) and 
(2)(B)(ii). This is true even when that claimant is no longer the owner 
of the copyright in the renewal term. If the statutory claimant in whom 
the renewal vested is the current owner and that claimant is submitting 
the renewal claim, that fact must be indicated on the renewal 
application.
    Where there is a successor or assignee of any statutory renewal 
claimant (the party who was the owner of the renewal term as determined 
on the last day of the original 28-year term of copyright), the 
successor or assignee may file the renewal application. 17 U.S.C. 
304(a)(3)(A)(ii). Consistent with the Offices long-standing regulation 
at 37 CFR 202.3(b)(10), as a general rule, only one registration can be 
made for the same version of a particular work. This rule applies to 
renewal claims, including those filed by a successor or assignee. For 
example, if a successor-in-interest filed a renewal claim in 2006 and 
later assigned his interest to someone else, that person could not file 
a renewal claim.
    In the case of an application filed by a successor or assignee, the 
renewal application must identify the party in whom the renewal 
copyright vested by virtue of 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(1)(B) and (C) but in 
whose name no previous renewal registration has been made; must 
indicate the basis upon which copyright in the renewal term vested in 
that party; and must identify the party filing as successor or assignee 
of the statutory claimant under 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(3) and the manner by 
which such successor/assignee secured the renewal copyright. When such 
an application has been filed by a successor or assignee in the name of 
the statutory claimant as described in 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(1)(B) and (C), 
the Office will generally not accept subsequent claims filed by other 
successors or assignees whose rights are derived from the same 
statutory claimant.
    Where a successor or assignee claims the renewal right from the 
same statutory claimant as does another successor or assignee, the 
Copyright Office may, however, inquire concerning the particular 
situation and, if appropriate, may allow adverse renewal claims from 
both successors/assignees to be placed on the public record. 
Applications in which two or more persons or organizations adversely 
claim the copyright to the renewal term in a particular work will be 
handled as the Office's Compendium of Copyright Practices, Compendium 
II (1984), Sec.  108.06, indicates: adverse claims will be registered 
if, after the Office inquires

[[Page 16308]]

concerning the claims, each claim, on its own merits, is determined to 
meet all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. In such a 
case, correspondence between the parties filing competing renewal 
claims and the Copyright Office will be maintained within Office 
records and subject to public inspection according to regulations found 
at 37 CFR 201.2. In cases where adverse renewal claims are not accepted 
by the Copyright Office, however, if a public record of renewal 
ownership is sought by particular successors or assignees of the same 
statutory claimant as indicated in the filing of a previous claim by 
another successor or assignee, the document of transfer of the renewal 
copyright may be recorded in the Copyright Office.

IV. Renewal Registration Procedures

    Under the proposed amendment, the Copyright Office will provide a 
revised application form for the registration of renewal claims. The 
proposed revised Form RE, as well as the proposed revised Form RE/CON 
(for use when additional information must be supplied) and Form RE/
ADDENDUM (to be filed if the work, or the collective work in which it 
was first published, was not registered during the original term) may 
be viewed on the Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov/proposedforms. Following issuance of a final rule, these new forms will 
be available on the Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov as 
well as through postal mail upon request. Any requests to the Copyright 
Office for application forms for registration of claims to the renewal 
term will be filled with the newly revised form; the forms currently in 
use will be obsolete and the new forms must be used to file such 
renewal claims.
    One of the major changes to the form will facilitate the filing of 
applications by successors or assignees of the statutory renewal 
claimants listed at 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(1)(B) and (C). During the past 
several years, those successors or assignees of statutory claimants who 
wished to file an application to the renewal term, 17 U.S.C. 
304(a)(3)(ii), had to seek advice from the Copyright Office because of 
the lack of appropriate application-form instructions for the successor 
or assignee situation; this has been addressed in the revised 
application form.

V. Summary of Revisions to Regulation at 37 CFR 202.17

    The proposed revision of this regulatory section, 202.17, is 
extensive and essentially reorders much of the information which 
previously appeared within this section. The most important change in 
information concerns the end of the 28th-year renewal registration 
possibility.
    1. Section 202.17(a) more specifically explains the relevant 
statutory changes of 1992 regarding renewal rights and sets out the 
distinction between pre-1964 works and post-1964 works with respect to 
renewal registration.
    2. Section 202.17(b) expands the list of terms defined to include 
``statutory claimant,'' ``assignee and successor,'' and ``vest'' as 
those terms relate specifically to the provisions of this renewal 
registration regulation.
    3. Section 202.17(c) explains the relevant time periods for both 
original term registration and renewal term registration and their 
optional character as they are set out in the 1992 revision of section 
304(a) of Title 17.
    4. Section 202.17(d) explains the benefits of 28th-year renewal 
registration under the 1992 revision to section 304(a) of Title 17 and 
indicates that such benefits have no longer been available since 
January 1, 2006, because the regime of 28th-year renewal registration 
has ended.
    5. Section 202.17(e) sets out the parties entitled to the renewal 
right under 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(1)(B) and (C). This section also:
    a. clarifies that, in any derivative work which may be the subject 
of a renewal application, a renewal claim may be filed only in the new 
matter, revisions, or changes incorporated into that derivative work 
and which form the basis of the protected authorship for purposes of 
registration.
    b. clarifies that renewal claims for a work may, under certain 
circumstances, be filed under the posthumous work category and also 
under an individual claimant category but with the Copyright Office's 
taking no position as to which of such claims may be adjudicated to be 
valid.
    For purposes of the copyright statute's renewal provision, the term 
``posthumous work'' means a work concerning which no copyright 
assignment or other contract for exploitation of the work has occurred 
during the author's lifetime and which is unpublished at the time of 
the author's death. Compendium of Copyright Office Practices, 
Compendium II (1984), 1317.03(a), citing Bartok v. Boosey & Hawkes, 
Inc., 523 F.2d 941 (2d Cir. 1975), and H.R. Rep. No. 1476, 94th Cong., 
2d Sess 139 (1976). Two parties claiming renewal copyright who take 
different positions as to whether a particular work falls under the 
specific definition of ``posthumous'' which Congress adopted from 
Bartok may, thus, file separate and competing claims in such a 
situation.
    c. explains several situations concerning the filing of a renewal 
registration claim where an executor or a party appointed to fulfill 
such duties may be the appropriate filer of a renewal claim or where 
conflicting claims between an administrator of a will and the author's 
next of kin may be accepted by the Copyright Office.
    The Office has also added a phrase, for purposes of Sec.  
202.17(e)(2)(iii)(C), qualifying that an executor appointed under a 
will must still be acting in that capacity at the time of registration 
when a renewal claim is filed. The phrase ``if still acting in that 
capacity at the time of registration'' is added to help claimants make 
decisions concerning their renewal submissions where an executor of a 
will may or may not be able to act in the filing of a renewal claim. 
For the uncertainties and varying situations concerning the presence or 
absence of an executor or administrator and the possibility of the next 
of kin's claiming as an appropriate section 304 statutory class, see 
e.g. Silverman v. Sunrise Pictures Corp., 290 F. 804 (2d Cir.), cert. 
denied, 262 U.S. 758 (1923); Gibran v. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 153 F. 
Supp. 854 (S.D.N.Y. 1957), aff'd sub. nom. Gibran v. National Committee 
of Gibran, 255 F.2d 121 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 358 U.S. 828 (1958); 
Capano Music v. Myers Music, Inc., 605 F. Supp. 692 (S.D.N.Y. 1985).
    6. Section 202.17(f) clarifies the situations in which successors 
and assignees of the section 304(a)(1)(B) and (C) statutory renewal 
claimants may file applications for renewal registration.
    7. Section 202.17(g) indicates the information necessary on a 
renewal application form for a work for which a previous, original-term 
registration has been made.
    8. Section 202.17(h) indicates the information necessary on a 
renewal application form and the required accompanying deposit 
materials in situations for works where no original-term registration 
has been made. Concerning the Form RE/Addendum to be used in this 
situation of no original-term registration, regulatory Sec.  
202.17(h)(3)(vii) explains that the applicant must provide within the 
application an averment that all authorized copies of the work which 
were publicly distributed in the United States or elsewhere before 
March 1, 1989, carried a statutorily correct copyright notice.
    March 1, 1989, is the effective date of the Berne Convention 
Implementation Act of 1988 [BCIA], making the presence of a copyright 
notice on copies of a

[[Page 16309]]

work, published in the U.S., with the authorization of the copyright 
owner, optional. Before March 1, 1989, however, any copy, including any 
reprint copy, of a work published in this country or elsewhere, even 
though such work may have been first published under the 1909 Copyright 
Act, must have carried a statutorily required copyright notice. See 17 
U.S.C. 405.

List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 202

    Claims to copyright, Copyright, Registration requirements, Renewals

Proposed Regulations

    In consideration of the foregoing, the Copyright Office proposes to 
amend Part 202 of 37 CFR, Chapter II, in the manner set forth below:
    1. The authority citation for part 202 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 17 U.S.C. 408(f), 702.
    2. Section 202.17 is revised to read as follows:

Sec.  202.17 Renewals

    (a) General.
    (1) This section concerns renewal for copyrights originally secured 
from January 1, 1964, through December 31, 1977, either by publication 
with the required copyright notice or by registration as an unpublished 
work. Renewal registration for these works is optional.
    As provided in Pub. L. No. 102-307, 106 Stat. 264, enacted June 26, 
1992, renewal registration made during the last year of the original 
28-year term of copyright differs in legal effect from renewal 
registration made during the 67-year extended renewal term. In the 
latter instance, the copyright is renewed automatically at the 
expiration of the original 28-year term.
    In the former instance, renewal by registration during the last 
year of the original 28-year term vested the renewal copyright in the 
statutory claimant living on the date of registration.
    (2) Works for which copyright was secured before 1964 are governed 
by the provisions of 17 U.S.C. 304(a) in effect prior to the 1992 date 
of enactment of Pub. L. No. 102-307. The copyrights in such works could 
have been renewed by registration only within the last calendar year of 
the original 28-year term of copyright protection. If renewal 
registration was not made during that period of time, copyright 
protection was lost when the original term of copyright expired and 
cannot be regained.
    (3) Works restored to copyright by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act 
are governed in their copyright term of protection by Pub. L. No. 103-
465, 108 Stat. 4809, 4976 (December 8, 1994). Under 17 U.S.C. 
104A(a)(1)(A) and (B), as amended, any work in which copyright is 
restored subsists for the remainder of the term of copyright that the 
work would have been otherwise granted in the United States. Such term 
includes the remainder of any applicable renewal term.
    (4) Automatic restoration of copyright in certain foreign works 
that were in the public domain in the United States may have occurred 
under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act and may be protected by 
copyright or neighboring rights in their ``source country,'' as defined 
at 17 U.S.C. 104A(h)(8).
    (b) Definitions.
    (1) For purposes of this section, the terms assignee and successor, 
as they pertain to 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(3)(A)(ii), refer to a party which 
has acquired the renewal copyright in a work by assignment or by other 
means of legal succession from the statutory claimant [as that claimant 
is defined in 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(1)(B) and (C)] in whom the renewal 
copyright vested but in whose name no renewal registration was 
previously made.
    (2) For purposes of this section, a work has been copyrighted when 
it has been published with a proper copyright notice or, in the case of 
an unpublished work, when it has been registered for copyright.
    (3) 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.
    (4) For purposes of this section, the term statutory claimant 
means:
    (i) a party who was entitled to claim copyright for the renewal 
term at the time renewal registration was made either as a proprietary 
claimant ,17 U.S.C. 304(a)(2)(A)(i), or as a personal claimant, 17 
U.S.C. 304(a)(2)(B)(i), if registration was made during the original 
term of copyright; or,
    (ii) if the original copyright term expired, a party who was 
entitled to claim copyright for the renewal term as of the last day of 
the original term of copyright as either a proprietary or a personal 
claimant, 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(2)(A)(ii) and (a)(2)(B)(ii).
    (5) For purposes of this section, the term to vest means to give a 
fixed, non-contingent right of present or future enjoyment of the 
renewal copyright in a work. If renewal registration was made during 
the 28th year of the original term of copyright, the renewal copyright 
vested in the party or parties entitled to claim such copyright at the 
time of registration as provided by 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(1)(B) and (C). 
Although the vested right may have been determined by registration 
during the 28th year of the original term, the exercise of such right 
did not commence until the beginning of the renewal term, as provided 
in 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(2). If renewal registration was not made during the 
28th year, the renewal copyright automatically vested upon the 
beginning of the renewal term in the party or parties entitled to claim 
such copyright on the last day of the original term as provided by 17 
U.S.C. 304(a)(2)(A)(ii) and (B)(ii).
    (c) Time limits: original term and renewal term registration.
    (1) Under 17 U.S.C. 304(a), prior to its amendment of June 26, 
1992, a registration for the original term of copyright must have been 
made during the 28 years of that original term, and a renewal 
registration must also have been made during the 28th year of that 
term. Pub. L. No. 102-307, 106 Stat. 264 (June 26, 1992) amended 
section 304(a) for works originally copyrighted from January 1, 1964, 
through December 31, 1977, and provided for optional original-term 
registration and optional renewal registration. 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(2), 
(a)(3) and 409(11). For such works, claims to renewal copyright could 
have been registered during the last year of the original term but such 
registration was not required in order to enjoy statutory protection 
during the renewal term. 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(3)(B).
    (2) A renewal registration can be made at any time during the 
renewal term. 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(3)(A)(ii). If no original-term 
registration was made, renewal registration remains possible; but the 
Register may request information, under 17 U.S.C. 409(11), regarding 
the original term of copyright. Such information must demonstrate that 
the work complies with all requirements of the 1909 Act with respect to 
the existence, ownership, or duration of the copyright for the original 
term of the work. The Form RE/Addendum is used to provide this 
information.
    (3) Renewal registration is currently available for works 
copyrighted from January 1, 1964, through December 31, 1977. Under the 
provisions of 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(3)(A)(ii), renewal registration may be 
made any time during the 67-year renewal term for such works according 
to the procedure indicated in paragraph (h) of this section. Such 
renewal registration is optional and is not a condition of the 
subsistence of the copyright for the 67-year renewal term. 17 U.S.C. 
304(a)(3)(B). In the case of such works for which no registration was 
made during the original term of

[[Page 16310]]

copyright, renewal registration may be made by submission of a Form RE/
Addendum. The Addendum, an adjunct to the renewal form, concerns the 
facts of first publication for a work and assures the Copyright Office 
that the work as it existed in its original term of copyright was in 
compliance with the 1909 copyright law, 17 U.S.C. 1, et. seq. (1909 
Act, in effect through December 31, 1977), whose provisions govern such 
works.
    (d) Benefits of 28th-year renewal registration.
    Prior to January 1, 2006, renewal registration was available during 
the 28th year of the original term of copyright for works copyrighted 
from January 1, 1964, through December 31, 1977. As provided in Pub. L. 
No. 102-307, 106 Stat. 264, registration made during the 28th year of 
the original term of copyright provided the following benefits to the 
registrant:
    (1) The certificate of registration constituted prima facie 
evidence as to the validity of the copyright during its renewal term 
and of the facts stated in the certificate. 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(4)(B).
    (2) A derivative work prepared under the authority of a grant of a 
transfer or license of copyright in a work made before the expiration 
of the original term of copyright could not continue to be used under 
the terms of the grant during the renewal term without the authority of 
the owner of the renewal copyright. 17 U.S.C. 304(a)(4)(A).
    (3) The renewal copyright vested upon the beginning of the renewal 
term in the party entitled to claim the renewal of copyright at the 
time the application was made as provided under 17 U.S.C. 
304(a)(2)(A)(i) and (B)(i).
    (e) Statutory parties entitled to claim copyright for the renewal 
term under section 304(a).
    (1) Renewal claims must be registered in the name of the party or 
parties entitled to claim copyright for the renewal term as provided in 
paragraphs 2 through 4 of this section and as specified in 17 U.S.C. 
304(a). If a work was a new version of a previously published or 
registered work, renewal registration may be claimed only in the new 
matter.
    (2) If the renewal claim was submitted during the last, i.e., the 
28th, year of the original term of copyright, the claim had to be 
registered in the name[s] of the statutory claimant[s] entitled to 
claim the renewal copyright on the date on which the claim was 
submitted to the Copyright Office. If the renewal claim is submitted 
during the sixty-seven year extended renewal term, the renewal claim 
can be registered only in the name[s] of the statutory claimant[s] 
entitled to claim the renewal on the last day (December 31) of the 
original term of copyright. These eligible renewal claimants are listed 
below:
    (i) The person who, on the applicable day, was the copyright 
proprietor is the appropriate renewal claimant in any posthumous work 
or any periodical, encyclopedia, or other composite work upon which the 
copyright was originally secured by the proprietor
    (ii) The person who, on the applicable day, was the copyright 
proprietor is the appropriate claimant in 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 was made for 
hire.
    (iii) For any other copyrighted work, including a contribution by 
an individual author to a periodical or to an cyclopedic or other 
composite work, the appropriate claimants, in descending order of 
eligibility, are the person who, on the applicable day, was:
    (A) the author(s) of the work, if still living;
    (B) the widow(er) and/or child(ren) of the author, if the author 
was deceased on the applicable day;
    (C) the author's executor(s), if still acting in that capacity on 
the applicable day, provided the author had a will and neither the 
author, nor any widow(er) or child of the author is still 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.
    (3) The provisions of paragraphs (e)(1) and (2) of this section are 
subject to the following qualification: Notwithstanding the definition 
of ``posthumous work'' in paragraph (b)(4) of this section, a renewal 
claim may be registered in the name of the proprietor of a work, as 
well as in the name of the appropriate claimant under paragraph 
(e)(2)(iii) of this section, in any case in which 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 either claim.
    (4) The provisions of paragraphs (e)(2)(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; or,
    (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, removed before the estate has 
been completely administered, or is deceased at the time of the renewal 
registration submission, the renewal claim may be registered either in 
the 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 (e) 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 conflicting 
renewal claims in such a case should not be interpreted as evidencing 
the validity of either claim.
    (f) Successors/assignees entitled to file an application for the 
renewal term under section 304(a).(1) The provisions of paragraph (e) 
of this section are subject to the following qualifications:
    (i) Where no renewal registration has been made in the name of a 
person or entity identified in paragraphs (e)(2)(i), (ii) and (iii) of 
this section, a renewal application may be filed at any time during the 
renewal term by any successor or assignee of such person or entity.
    (ii) In such cases described in paragraph (f)(1)(i) of this 
section, the renewal application must identify the party in whom the 
renewal copyright vested; must indicate the basis upon which copyright 
for the renewal term vested in that party; must identify the party who 
is the successor or assignee of the statutory claimant under 17 U.S.C. 
304(a)(3); and, must give the manner by which such successor/assignee 
secured the renewal copyright.
    (iii) When such a claim has been filed by a successor or assignee 
in the name of the statutory claimant as described in paragraph 
(e)(2)(i), (ii) and (iii) of this section, generally no subsequent 
claims may be filed by other successors or assignees whose rights are 
derived from the same statutory claimant. If a public record of renewal 
ownership is sought by other successors or assignees of the same 
statutory claimant, the document of transfer of the renewal copyright, 
either the renewal in its entirety or in part, may be recorded in the 
Copyright Office.
    (iv) Where a successor or assignee claims the renewal right from 
the same statutory claimant as does another successor or assignee, the 
Copyright

[[Page 16311]]

Office may inquire concerning the situation and, if appropriate, may 
allow adverse renewal claims from the successors/assignees to be placed 
on the public record. In such cases, correspondence between the parties 
filing competing renewal claims and the Copyright Office will be, as 
always, maintained within Office records and subject to public 
inspection according to regulations found at 37 CFR 201.2.
    (g) Application for renewal registration for a work registered in 
its original 28-year term.
    (1) Each application for renewal registration shall be submitted on 
Form RE. All forms are available free of charge via the Internet by 
accessing the Copyright Office homepage at http://www.copyright.gov. 
Copies of Form RE are also available free upon request to the Public 
Information Office, United States Copyright Office, Library of 
Congress, 101 Independence Avenue, Washington, DC 20559-6000.
    (2) (i) An application for renewal registration may be submitted by 
any eligible statutory renewal claimant as specified in paragraph (e) 
of this section or by the duly authorized agent of such claimant, or by 
the successor or assignee of such claimant as provided under paragraph 
(f) of this section or by the duly authorized agent of such successor 
or assignee.
    (ii) An application for renewal registration shall be accompanied 
by the required fee as set forth in 37 CFR 201.3. 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 a successor or assignee, or the duly authorized agent of such 
claimant or of such successor or assignee (whose identity shall also be 
given);
    (B) The handwritten signature of such claimant, successor or 
assignee, 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.
    (3) Once a renewal registration has been made, the Copyright Office 
will not accept another application for renewal registration on behalf 
of the same renewal claimant.
    (h) Renewal with addendum registration for an unregistered work.
    (1) General. For published works copyrighted from January 1, 1964, 
through December 31, 1977, where no registration was made during the 
original term of copyright and where renewal registration is sought 
during the 67-year renewal term, the Form RE/Addendum must be used to 
provide information concerning the original term of copyright. The Form 
RE/Addendum requires a separate fee and the deposit of one copy or 
phonorecord of the work as first published (or identifying material in 
lieu of a copy or phonorecord). The effective date of registration for 
a renewal claim submitted on a Form RE/Addendum is the date the 
Copyright Office receives an acceptable completed application, the 
required fees, and an acceptable deposit for the work.
    (2) Time Limits. A renewal claim accompanied by an Addendum to Form 
RE may be filed at any time during the 67-year renewal term.
    (3) Content. The Form RE/Addendum 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 nation 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, and 
thereafter until March 1, 1989 [effective date of the Berne 
Implementation Act of 1988], all the copies or phonorecords of the 
work, including reprints of the work, published, i.e., publicly 
distributed in the United States or elsewhere, under the authority of 
the author or other copyright proprietor, bore the copyright notice 
required by the Copyright Act of 1909 and that United States copyright 
subsists in the work;
    (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 Form RE/Addendum 
must also contain information about the country of manufacture and the 
manufacturing processes; and
    (ix) The handwritten signature of the renewal claimant or successor 
or assignee, or the duly authorized agent of the claimant or of the 
successor or assignee. The signature shall be accompanied by the 
printed or typewritten name of the person signing the Addendum and by 
the date of the signature; and shall be immediately preceded by a 
declaration that the statements made in the application are correct to 
the best of that person's knowledge.
    (4) Fees. Form RE and Form RE/Addendum must be accompanied by the 
required fee for each form as required in 37 CFR 201.3.
    (5) Deposit requirement. One copy or phonorecord or identifying 
material of the work as first published in accordance with the deposit 
requirements set out in 37 CFR 202.20 and 202.21 is required.
    (6) Waiver of the deposit requirement. Where the renewal applicant 
asserts that it is either impossible or otherwise an undue hardship to 
satisfy the deposit requirements of 37 CFR 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 descending order of 
preference. In every case, however, proof of the copyright notice 
showing the content and location of the notice as it appeared on copies 
or phonorecords of the work as first published must be included.
    (i) A reproduction of the entire work as first published (e.g., 
photocopy, videotape, audiotape, CD-ROM, DVD are examples of physical 
media which may hold reproductions of a work as first published). If 
the work is a contribution to a periodical, a reproduction of only the 
contribution (including the relevant copyright notice) will suffice.
    (ii) A reprint of the work (e.g., a later edition, a later release 
of a phonorecord, or the like). The reprint must show the copyright 
notice as it appeared in the same location within the first published 
copy of the work as well as the exact content of the copyright notice 
appearing in the first published edition. If the copyrightable content 
of the reprint differs from that of the first published edition, an 
explanation of the differences between the two editions is required.
    (iii) Identifying material including a reproduction of the greatest 
feasible portion of the copyrightable content of a work including a 
photocopy or photograph of the title page, title screen, record label 
or the like, as first published, and a photocopy or photograph showing 
the copyright notice content and location as first published. The 
Copyright Office may request deposit of additional material if the 
initial submission is inadequate for examination purposes.

    Dated: March 28, 2007.
Marybeth Peters,
Register of Copyrights.
[FR Doc. E7-6174 Filed 4-3-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-30-S