Group registration is possible only if all the following conditions are met:
- All the updates or revisions must be fixed (if unpublished) or published only in machine-readable copy(ies).
- All the updates or revisions were created (if unpublished) or were first published within a three-month period, all within the same calendar year.
- All the updates or revisions are owned by the same copyright claimant.
- All the updates or revisions have the same general title.
- All the updates or revisions are similar in their general content, including their subject.
- All the updates or revisions are similar in their organization.
- The updates or revisions, if published before March 1, 1989, bear a copyright notice naming the owner of the copyright, and that name is the same in each notice.
Scope of Claim
Group registration for database updates/revisions or for a database plus its updates/revisions extends to all the material that was created (if unpublished) or that was first published within the time period (up to three months) specified at space 1 of the application.
How to Register
To make a single group registration for an automated database and/or its copyrightable updates/revisions added during a given three-month period, send the following three items together in the same envelope or package addressed to:
Library of Congress
Copyright Office-TX
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20559-6222
- a nonrefundable filing fee payable to Register of Copyrights
- a deposit representative of the updates/revisions being registered
- a Form TX completed according to the instructions below
Deposit Requirements for Group Registration
- Visually perceptible identifying material comprising:
- Descriptive Statement: a brief typed or printed statement giving the following information:
50 pages or records (whichever is less) marked to disclose copyrightable revisions/updates from one representative publication date (if published) or one representative creation date (if unpublished);
[Note: It is not necessary to identify all revisions/updates. The requirement is to identify sufficient revisions/updates to establish that the work submitted for registration is an original work of authorship.]
or
50 pages or records (whichever is less) comprised entirely of revisions/updates from one representative publication date (if published) or one representative creation date (if unpublished); please confirm in a cover letter that the entire unmarked deposit represents revisions/updates added to the database on the representative date;
and
-
title of the database
-
name and address of the copyright claimant
-
for each separate file in a multiple-file database, its name and content, including its subject, origin(s) of the data, and approximate number of data records it contains
- information about the nature, location, and frequency of the changes within the database or (for multiple-file databases) within the separate data files,
and
-
information about the copyright notice, if one is used, as follows:
For a machine-readable notice, transcribe the contents of the notice and indicate the manner and frequency with which it is displayed (e.g., at user’s terminal only at sign on, or continuously on terminal display, or on printouts, etc.)
For a visually perceptible notice on any copies of the work (or on tape reels or containers for same), include a photocopy or other sample of the notice.
How to Complete Form TX for Group Registration of Database Updates
Space 1: Title. At the “Title of This Work” line, use the following statement: Group registration for automated database titled; published/unpublished (choose one) updates from ___________ to ___________ .
Indicate published or unpublished. All the updates or revisions being registered as a group must be either published or unpublished.
Give the earliest and latest dates for updates included in this group registration. This time period must be three months or less, all within the same calendar year.
Use the “Publication as a Contribution” line of space 1 to give the following information: The date (month, day, year) that is represented by the marked portions of identifying material deposited. Indicate the frequency with which revisions are made: e.g., daily, weekly, monthly, or other (specify).
Space 3: Creation and Publication. Date of Creation: Give the year in which the author completed this group of updates or revisions.
Creation: Under the statute, a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. Where a work has been prepared over a period of time, the part of the work existing in fixed form on a particular date constitutes the created work on that date. The date given here should be the year in which the author completed the particular version for which registration is now being sought, even if other versions exist or if further changes or additions are planned.
Date of Publication: Give the date (month, day, year) and nation of publication only if the updates or revisions have been published. The date given should be the last date on which you published updates or revisions during the time period specified at space 1.
Space 6: Derivative Work or Compilation. Leave space 6 blank if the material contained in the version of the database or its updates now being registered is entirely new and never before registered or published.
Complete this space if the updates or the database and its updates that are now being registered contain previously published, previously registered, or public domain material.
Preexisting Material (space 6a): For a new database that has not been previously registered or published, but that contains some previously published, previously registered, or public domain material, space 6a should describe such material, for example “previously published material” or “public domain data” or the like.
For a previously published or registered database that has been revised or periodically updated, space 6a should describe the preexisting material as “previously published database” or “previously registered database” or “database prior to (earliest date represented in the present group of updates)”.
Material Added to This Work (space 6b): This space should describe the updates or revisions or new compilation being registered for the first time and should specify the frequency of these updates or revisions, e.g., “weekly updates,” or “daily revisions,” or “revised compilation updated monthly.” Where all or a portion of the text represents new copyrightable expression, and it is being published or registered for the first time, the statement should also include “new text,” “updated and revised text,” or the like. Space 2 should name the author(s) of the material listed at space 6b and should describe the nature of authorship to agree with space 6b.