Copyright Registration Compendium
The Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices is the handbook the examiners work from, much like the trademark TMEP. When a registration letter cites a rule about authorship or deposit, it usually points here. The topic index below helps you find the right part before reading the current text.
Why the manual matters to you
It tells you in advance what an examiner will look for, so you can fix an authorship, deposit, or publication-status problem before filing rather than after a refusal. A response that addresses the standard in the relevant part tends to move faster than one that merely argues the point.
Before you file, read the manual's own entries on deposit and on published versus unpublished works and compare them with what you are about to submit. That one habit avoids a large share of avoidable refusals.
Two honest caveats
- Chapter and section numbers shift between editions, so the topic names below are indexed by search term rather than pinned to numbers that may have moved.
- The Compendium is Office guidance, not law; the statutes and the courts decide cases.
Topics indexed for quick lookup
| Topic | Starting points | What the manual covers |
|---|---|---|
| Application for copyright registration | application, single application, standard application, electronic filing, Form CO, claimant | How a registration is started: the online application, the single-application track for one author and one work, the standard application for everything else, the fee, and the deposit. Filing is electronic through the Office's system. |
| Authorship and claimants | author, claimant, natural person, who may claim, initial ownership | The examiners first confirm who the author is and who may claim. The default claimant is the author; a claimant who is not the author must show a transfer or a work-made-for-hire relationship. |
| Works made for hire | work made for hire, employer, employee, commissioned work, nine categories | Explains when a work created by an employee within the scope of employment, or a commissioned work falling within the nine statutory categories and put in a signed writing, is owned by the commissioning party from the start. |
| Joint works | joint work, co-authors, intent to merge, undivided interest | Covers the rule that a joint work is prepared by two or more authors with the intent that their contributions merge into an inseparable or interdependent whole, giving each an undivided interest. |
| Copyrightable subject matter | subject matter, eight categories, literary, musical, pictorial, sound recording, architectural, useful article | The eight categories of works the Office will register and the recurring edge cases, including useful articles (where only the separable artistic features are protected) and works that are ideas rather than expression. |
| Published versus unpublished works | publication, distribution, offer to distribute, unpublished, effective date | Why the publication status matters: it changes which deposit is required, affects the three-month registration window for statutory damages, and changes how a work is identified. The Compendium walks through what counts as publication. |
| Derivative works and compilations | derivative work, compilation, adaptations, translations, selection and arrangement | How to register a work based on or assembling other works: the claim covers only the new original authorship, and the application must identify and, where needed, clear the preexisting material. |
| Collective works and contributions | collective work, periodical, contribution, group registration | Registration of anthologies and periodicals, including the group-registration options for contributions to periodicals and the separate ownership of each contribution. |
| Deposit requirements | deposit, best edition, identifying material, complete copy, trade secret | What must be submitted as the best edition of the work, how identifying material works for unpublished works, and how trade-secret portions of software may be handled without public disclosure. |
| Effective date of registration | effective date, date of registration, three-month window, § 412 | The date that matters for the § 412 statutory-damages and attorney-fees window is not the issue date but the date the Office receives all three of a complete application, the fee, and the deposit. |
| Examination of applications | examination, examining, refusal, second chance, correspondence | What an examiner reviews before registering — copyrightable subject matter, authorship, ownership, and deposit — and the Office's two-step practice of a first refusal followed by a chance to respond before a final refusal. |
| Correspondence and amendments | correspondence, letter, amendment, supplementary registration, correction | How the Office communicates about an application, how to respond to a letter, and when a correction must be made through a supplementary registration rather than by amending the original. |
| Certificate of registration | certificate, registration certificate, prima facie evidence, public record | What a registration certificate establishes: a public record and, if made within five years of publication, prima facie evidence of the facts stated. This is also the document you need before filing an infringement suit for a U.S. work. |
| Refusal of registration | refusal, final refusal, two-step refusal, appeal, review board | The grounds an application can be refused — lack of copyrightable authorship, incomplete deposit, or misidentification — and the path to respond, request reconsideration, or appeal to the Office's Review Board. |
| Group registrations | group registration, photographs, databases, periodicals, NEH, GRPPR | The special one-claim-covers-many options: contributions to periodicals, updates to databases, newspaper issues, and photographs, each with its own eligibility and window rules. |
| Websites and software | website, software, computer program, source code, database, HTML | How the Office treats websites (usually as a collection of components, each registered on its own theory) and software (registered as a literary work with source or object code as deposit). |
| Architectural works | architectural work, building, design, constructed, § 502 | Registration of the design of a building as it is embodied in a constructed or planned building, with the limits on protecting the functional or standard features. |
| Recordation of transfers and documents | recordation, assignment, transfer, security interest, chain of title | How to record assignments and other documents affecting ownership with the Office, and why recording matters against later innocent purchasers and for establishing priority. |
The Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices is the Office's own internal manual for how it examines applications and administers the register. Like the trademark TMEP, it is guidance the examiners follow every day rather than binding law, and it is revised over time — the current edition is the third, released in 2021. Treat the topic names below as starting search terms, then read the current text in the online Compendium before relying on a specific rule.
Reading a Compendium citation in your registration letter
Registration letters routinely cite a Compendium chapter alongside a statutory or rule basis. Read the statute or rule first to understand the requirement, then the Compendium part to see how the Office applies it — and if they disagree in substance, the statute governs.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Compendium legally binding?
It is internal Copyright Office guidance. It is highly persuasive because examiners apply it daily, but the courts decide cases under the statute and the Office's own regulations.
Which topics should I read first?
The deposit and the published-versus-unpublished topics, then the application and examination topics. Together they cover most refusals a first-time filer can prevent without help.
How do I know I have the current edition?
Use the online Compendium at copyright.gov rather than any saved PDF. The Office revises it over time and dates each edition on its site.
More in Databases & Legal Resources
U.S. Copyright Act (Title 17)
The provisions of Title 17 that govern ownership, duration, registration, and infringement.
Copyright Office Rules (37 C.F.R. Part 202)
The procedural rules behind every registration, notice, and deposit requirement.
U.S. Trademark Statutes
The Lanham Act provisions governing registration, in plain language.
Trademark Rules & Regulations
37 C.F.R. Part 2, the procedural rules behind every deadline.