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Copyright Review Board
United States Copyright Office • 101 Independence Avenue SE • Washington, DC 20559-6000
John M. Kraft, Esq.
Mockingbird Press LLC
5431 Copse Drive
Atlanta, GA 30909
| Re: | Second Request for Reconsideration for Refusal to Register The Three Magical Books of Solomon (SR # 1-8332107631; Correspondence ID: 1-49NBBBJ) |
Dear Mr. Kraft:
The Review Board of the United States Copyright Office ("Board") has considered Mockingbird Press LLC's ("Mockingbird Press") second request for reconsideration of the Registration Program's refusal to register a compilation claim in the work titled "The Three Magical Books of Solomon" ("Work"). After reviewing the application, deposit copy, and relevant correspondence, along with the arguments in the second request for reconsideration, the Board affirms the Registration Program’s denial of registration.
I. DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK
The Work is one book containing three public domain writings attributed to King Solomon, a key historical figure in the religious texts of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions, who lived from 990 to 931 BCE. He is also associated with occult philosophy and ceremonial magic practices. The Work combines The Lesser Key of Solomon the King (published in 1904 by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley), The Greater Key of Solomon the King (published in 1888 by S. L. MacGregor Mathers), and The Testament of Solomon (published in 1898 by F. C. Conybeare).[1] The three writings are English translations that, due to their publication date, are in the public domain.
The application for the Work claims only “compilation” as the basis for authorship.
- ↑ As a deposit, Mockingbird Press provided a 181-page PDF. The first page lists the three books and provides their authors. The next page begins a table of contents, listing page numbers going up to page 273, with The Testament of Solomon starting on page 236. While this third writing does not appear to be contained in the deposit provided to the Office, the Board takes judicial notice of the fact that F. C. Conybeare published a translation of The Testament of Solomon in the October 1898 edition of the Jewish Quarterly Review. See F. C. Conybeare, The Testament of Solomon, 11 Jewish Quarterly Rev. 1 (1898), https://www.jstor.org/stable/1450398.
