1300-24
1317
Renewal claimants: proprietors. (cont'd)
1317.03
Posthumous works. (cont'd)
1317(b)
Proper claimant. (cont'd)
5)
Where the work was originally published as a contribution to a periodical and that contribution was not separately registered, there is doubt under the wording of the renewal provisions of the law as to whether the proprietor of such a "posthumous work" may claim the renewal. In such cases, the Copyright Office will accept applications from the proprietor, and also from the author's widow, widower, children, executor,or next of kin, provided separate applications and fees are submitted.
1317.04
Composite works. The proprietor of a periodical, cyclopedic, or other composite work may claim renewal in the work as a whole.
1317.04(a)
Definition. Generally, a composite work is an original publication relating to a variety of subjects to which a number of different authors have contributed distinguishable and separable selections. Thus, a work by a single author consisting of a collection of his writings is not a composite work. Similarly, a work which is the product of joint authorship and common design, or which consists of elements which have been indistinguishably merged into a single entity, cannot be regarded as composite, e.g., musical compositions, dramas, dramatico-musical works, and motion pictures.
1317.05
Individual contributions. While the proprietor of a composite work may claim renewal in the work as a whole, the author of an individual contribution, or the author's beneficiaries, may also claim renewal in the contribution.
*
It is unclear whether the proprietor's claim in the entire work covers everything in the work that is not separately renewed.
[1984]
