Claims to copyright in published or unpublished musical works can be registered in the Copyright Office.

Published collections of musical works and all the copyrightable elements of a unit of publication can be submitted for registration on one application with a single fee if all the compositions are owned by the same copyright claimant. For details on deposit requirements for published musical works, see Circular 50, Copyright Registration for Musical Compositions.

Unpublished collections of two or more musical works can be submitted for registration on one application with a single fee and a deposit of one complete copy or phonorecord if all the conditions specified in Circular 50 under the heading “Collections of Music” are met.

See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, or SL-35, Registering a Copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office, for details about registration procedures. See Circular 50 for more information about deposit requirements.

 

FL-105, Reviewed November 2010