Certification Screen
The application must be certified before you submit your claim to the Copyright Office.
The certification may be signed by the author or claimant for the works being registered, or an owner of one or more of the exclusive right(s) in these works. Alternatively, the application may be certified by an authorized agent of one of these parties.
Check the box to confirm that you are authorized to certify the application. Then enter your first and last name in the space marked “First and Last Name of the Individual Certifying the Application.”
Note to Copyright Office Space
Use the “Note to Copyright Office” space to provide any additional information that may be relevant to the examination of your claim, such as explaining apparent discrepancies between the information given in the application and deposit.
Previously Published Works
The “Note to Copyright Office” space may also be used if you want to register a sound recording that was previously published as an individual work, such as a single, before it was published on the album. To do so, you should provide the following information in this space:
- The title of the previously published work
- The month, day and year (MM/DD/YYYY) that the work was published for the first time
- A brief statement confirming that the previously published work is exactly the same as the work published on the album, such as “This work was first published as a single on [DATE]. The previously published track is identical to the track published on the album.”
Hidden Tracks
The “Note to Copyright Office” space may also be used to register a “hidden track” – such as a sound recording that was published on the album but was not listed in the liner notes or elsewhere in the deposit. To do so, you should provide the following information in the application:
- Title and Track Number: Enter the title of the work on the “Titles of the Sound Recordings Being Registered” screen. Then enter the number zero (“0”) in the space marked “Track Number on the Album.”
- Author Information: On the “Author(s) of Sound Recordings” screen, identify all of the authors of the hidden track.
- If the author created all of the works being registered (including the hidden track), check the box that reads “Check this box ONLY if this author created or co-created ALL of the sound recordings that you want to register.”
- If the author created some – but not all – of the sound recordings that you want to register, enter the number zero (“0”) in the box that reads “Album track number(s) for the sound recording(s) created by this author.” If the author created any other works, be sure to enter the track numbers for those works in the same space.
- Tell us where to find the hidden track: In the “Note to Copyright” space, provide a brief statement listing the title of the hidden track, confirming that it was published on the album as a hidden track, and explaining where to find it in the deposit, such as “The hidden track appears at the end of the final track on this album after a 30-second interval of silence.”
Important: If you upload a digital copy of the hidden track, the name assigned to the digital file must match the corresponding title that you enter on the “Titles of the Sound Recordings Being Registered” screen and in the “Note to Copyright Office” space. If the titles and the file names do not match each other, the Office may remove that work from your application or may refuse to register the entire claim.
Example:
| Title listed in the application: | Filename for the digital audio file: |
|---|---|
| The Surprise Party | thesurpriseparty.mp3 |
Providing a Specific Title for Photographs, Artwork, or Liner Notes
The “Note to Copyright Office” space may also be used to provide a specific title for any photographs, artwork, or liner notes that may be included in the claim.
To do so, enter the title of the work in this space. Be sure to identify all of the authors of that work, and add a brief statement that identifies the type of work they created (such as “this is the title for the album cover artwork” or “this is the title of the photo on page 3 of the insert”).
If you upload a digital copy of your photographs, artwork, or liner notes, be sure that the name assigned to the digital file matches the corresponding title that you enter in this space. If the titles and the file names do not match each other, the Office may remove that work from your application or may refuse to register the entire claim.