Author(s) of the Musical Works
You must identify the author of the musical works that you want to register.
The author is the person who wrote the music and/or lyrics contained within each musical work, such as a composer, lyricist, or songwriter.
If the music and/or lyrics were co-written by two or more co-authors, you must identify each author in the application.
Each work you submit to the Copyright Office must be a musical work. When you submit your claim, the term “musical works (with or without lyrics)” will be added automatically to the entry for each author. This term will appear on the certificate and in the Copyright Office’s online public record.
Name Individual Authors (Not Performing Groups) as the Author of the Musical Works
When completing the “Authors” screen, you should identify the authors who created or co-created the musical works that you plan to register.
Generally, you should not name a performing group as the author of the works, unless the group is a legal entity that created each musical work as a work made for hire. If the author or co-authors are members of a performing group, you may include this information in the “Note to Copyright Office” space on the “Certification” screen. But naming a performing group as the author – without naming the individual members who created the works – is not sufficient.
You should not list all of the members of a performing group, unless all of the members co-wrote the music and/or lyrics for the works being registered. For instance, if Bingo, Mick, Paul, and Keith are members of a band, and if Keith wrote all the lyrics and Bingo wrote all the music, then Keith and Bingo should be named as the co-authors. By contrast, Mick and Paul should not be named in the application, because they did not contribute music or lyrics to the works being registered.
Name Composers, Lyricists, and/or Songwriters (Not Performers or Producers)as the Author of the Musical Works
A musical work – such as a song with music and lyrics – and a recording of a band performing that song are two separate works. A musical work is a work that consists of music – including melody, rhythm, and/or harmony – and any accompanying lyrics. A sound recording is a recording of a particular performance of a musical work. Read more.
The author of a musical work is the person who created the music and/or lyrics, such as a composer, lyricist, or songwriter. Sound recordings are generally created by performers and/or producers. In other words, the author of a sound recording is the performer featured in the recording, and/or the producer who captured, manipulated, and/or edited the sounds that appear in the final recording.
When completing the “Authors” section you should identify the composers, lyricists, and/or songwriters who created the musical works. You should not name the performers or producers who created a recording of those works, unless those individuals also contributed to the music (melody, rhythm, harmony) and/or lyrics that you plan to register.
Tips for Completing the "Authors of the Musical Works Being Registered" Screen
There are two things to keep in mind before you complete the Authors screen:
- First, all of the musical works must be created by the same author, or the works must have a common author. In other words, at least one of the authors must have contributed copyrightable authorship to each and every work in the group. Read more.
- Second, the copyright claimant for each work listed in the application must be the same person or the same organization. Read more.
Who is the copyright claimant?
The claimant is the author or co-author of all of the works being registered, or the person or organization that owns all of the exclusive rights that initially belonged to an author of all of the works being registered.
Can I name the author as the copyright claimant?
If you plan to name the author or co-authors as the copyright claimant, then all of the works in the group being registered must be created by the same author or must have a common joint author. Read more.
Can I name a third party as the copyright claimant, such as a music publisher?
A third party – such as a music publisher – may be named as the copyright claimant if that party owns all of the exclusive rights that initially belonged to an author of all of the works being registered. Read more
In this situation, you should only list the work that are owned by the copyright claimant. If the claimant does not own all of the exclusive rights that initially belonged to an author of a particular song, do not list those works on the Authors screen. Read more.
Click here for examples that illustrate this requirement.
Completing the "Authors of the Musical Works Being Registered" Screen
When you’re ready to identify the authors of your musical works, click “New.” A new screen will appear.
Enter the author’s information in the spaces provided.
If the author is an individual, such as a composer or songwriter, enter that person’s name in the “Individual Author” space.
If the author is an organization enter that entity’s name in the “Organization” space and select “yes” in the work made for hire space.
Work Made For Hire
A work made for hire is either:
- A musical work created by an employee within the scope of his or her employment.
- A musical work that is specially ordered or commissioned, provided that the parties expressly agree in a writing signed by both parties that the work is considered a “work made for hire,” and the musical work is specially ordered or commissioned for use as:
- a contribution to a collective work
- a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work
- a translation
- a compilation
- a test or answer material for a test
- an atlas
- instructional text, which is defined as a “literary, pictorial, or graphic work prepared for publication and with the purpose of use in systematic instructional activities;” or
- a supplementary work, which is defined as “a work prepared for publication as a secondary adjunct to a work by another author for the purpose of introducing, concluding, illustrating, explaining, revising, commenting upon, or assisting in the use of the other work, such as forewords, afterwords, pictorial illustrations, maps, charts, tables, editorial notes, musical arrangements, answer material for tests, bibliographies, appendixes, and indexes.”
or
The Copyright Office developed a questionnaire that may be useful in determining whether a particular work qualifies as a “work made for hire.” To complete the questionnaire and to read more information about this topic, see Works Made For Hire (Circular 30).
Who is the author of a work made for hire?
The author of a work made for hire is the employer or the party that ordered or commissioned the musical work.
Who should be named as the author of a "work made for hire"?
If a musical work is a “work made for hire,” you should select “yes” in the space marked “Is this author’s contribution a work made for hire.”
As mentioned above, the author of a “work made for hire” is the employer of the person(s) who created the musical work or the party that ordered or commissioned the musical work. Do not name the person or persons who actually created a work made for hire.
If the musical works were created by a legal entity, provide that entity’s name in the space marked “Organization.” Note: As mentioned above, a performing group should not be named as the author of the works, unless the group is a legal entity that created each musical work as a work made for hire.
If the employer or commissioning party is an individual, provide that person’s first and last name in the spaces marked “Individual Author.”
Citizenship and Domicile
You should identify the author’s country of citizenship and/or domicile. To enter this information select one of the countries listed in the drop down menu.
“Citizenship” means that the author is a citizen of a particular nation or the author owes permanent allegiance to a particular country, even though he or she is not a citizen of that nation.
“Domicile” is the nation where the author has a fixed and permanent residence, where the author intends to maintain his or her residence for an unlimited time, and whenever absent where the author intends to return.
Year of Birth / Year of Death
If the author is an individual and if that person is deceased, you must enter the author’s year of death in the space provided. This information is required, because the length of the copyright term may be based on the year that the author died.
If you like, you may provide the author’s year of birth. This information is entirely optional. But please note that if you complete this part of the application, the author’s year of birth will appear on the certificate and the Office’s online public database.
Anonymous
What is an anonymous work?
A musical work is “anonymous” if the author of that work is not identified on the album or in the liner notes. If the author’s name appears on the album or in the liner notes for a particular musical work, that work is not “anonymous,” even if the author does not wish to reveal his or her identity in the registration record.
Examples:
- The album packaging contains artwork and photographs, but it doesn’t contain any credits identifying the author of the music and lyrics. Each song would be considered an anonymous work, because the author’s name was not mentioned in the deposit.
- The liner notes for an album reads “All songs by Billie Nelson.” These songs would not be considered anonymous works, because the author’s name appears in the liner notes.
- The liner notes for a particular song read “Words by Sara Songwriter, Music by Clyde Composer.” This would not be considered an anonymous work, because the authors’ names appears in the liner notes.
How should you identify the author of an anonymous work?
If the author’s name does not appear on the album or in the liner notes — and if you do not want to reveal the author’s identity in the registration record — check the box indicating that the works were created anonymously.
If the author created the works anonymously — and if you want to disclose the author’s identity in the registration record — you may enter the author’s name in the spaces for “First Name” and “Last Name.”
Important Note: Depending on the circumstances, providing the author’s name in the registration record for an anonymous work may extend or reduce the term of copyright. For additional information see the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Chapter 600, Section 615.1.
If you check the box indicating that the works were created anonymously — and if you do not want to reveal the author’s identity in the registration record — you should not include the author’s real name anywhere in the application (including the “Certification” screen). If you include the author’s real name in the application it becomes part of the public record and cannot be changed once a registration has issued.
Pseudonymous
What is a pseudonymous work?
A musical work is “pseudonymous” if the author is identified on the album or in the liner notes solely by a stage name, performing name, fictitious name, or other pseudonym. If both the author’s legal name and fictitious name appear on the album or in the liner notes for a particular song, that work is not pseudonymous.
Example:
- The credits on the back of the album read “All songs by Ziggy Stardust.” The songs could be considered pseudonymous works, because “Ziggy Stardust” is a pseudonym for the songwriter (whose real name is David Jones).
- The liner notes for an album read: “All Songs by Billie Nelson” or “All songs © Billie Nelson 2021.” These songs would not be considered pseudonymous works, because the author’s name appears in the liner notes.
The name of a performing group is not a pseudonym
As mentioned above, you should identify the individuals who wrote the music and/or lyrics for the works listed in the application, even if the album states that the works were created by a performing group. The name of a performing group is not a pseudonym, so you should not include that name in the “Pseudonym” space. If the author or co-authors are members of a performing group, you may include this information in the “Note to Copyright Office” space on the “Certification” screen.
How should you identify the author of a pseudonymous work?
If the author’s pseudonym appears on the album or in the liner notes (but the author’s real name does not) — and if you do not want to reveal the author’s real name in the registration record — you may leave the “First Name” and “Last Name” spaces blank. Then check the box indicating that the works are “pseudonymous” and enter the author’s pseudonym in the space provided.
If the author’s pseudonym appears on the album or in the liner notes — and if you want to disclose the author’s identity in the registration record — you may provide that person’s name in the spaces for “First Name” and “Last Name.” You may also check the box indicating that the works are “pseudonymous” and enter the author’s pseudonym in the space provided.
Important: Depending on the circumstances, providing the author’s name in the registration record for a pseudonymous work may extend or reduce the term of copyright. For additional information see Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Chapter 600, Section 615.2.
If you checked the box indicating that the author’s pseudonym appears on the album — and if you do not want to reveal the author’s identity in the registration record — you should not include the author’s real name anywhere in the application (including the “Certification” screen). If you include the author’s real name in the application it becomes part of the public record and cannot be changed once a registration has issued.
Identifying the Musical Works Created by This Author
Once you’ve identified the author, you must identify the musical works that were created or co-created by this author.
If this author created all of the musical works that you want to register, you may check the box that reads: “Check this box ONLY if this author created or co-created ALL of the musical works that you want to register”
Important: Do not check this box if the author created some – but not all – of the musical works that you want to register. Instead, you should complete the box that reads: “Album track number(s) for the musical work(s) created by this author.”
Specifically, you should identify the musical works that the author created by entering the track numbers that were assigned to those works when they were published on the album. Each track number should be entered as a number and each number should be separated with a comma.
Example:
Clyde wrote three works that were published on an album as track numbers 2, 4, and 7. To register these works you should enter Clyde’s name in the “Individual Author” space. To identify the works that he created you may check the box that reads: “Check this box ONLY if this author created or co-created ALL of the musical works that you want to register.”
By contrast, you should not check this box if the author created some – but not all – of the musical works that you want to register.
Example:
In this example, Clyde and Sara co-created track 9. Sara created tracks 11 and 13 by herself.
You should enter Clyde’s name in the “Individual Author” space. You should not check the first box that reads “Check this box ONLY if this author created or co-created ALL of the musical works that you want to register,” because Clyde did not create all of the works being registered; he only created track number 9. To identify that work you should enter the number “9” in the box that reads “Album track number(s) for the musical work(s) created by this author.”
By contrast, Sara created or co-created tracks 9, 11, and 13. After you enter her name in the Individual Author space, you may check the box stating that she created all of the works being registered.