Registering Derivative Works: Protecting What You Added Without Overclaiming

44 questions on registering derivative works, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Can a derivative work registration support a claim reaching the underlying work?
• Can an inaccurate derivative-work application invalidate the registration?
• Can a work be derivative of something that is not itself copyrightable?
• Does an unauthorized derivative lose protection for everything the author wrote?
• Does changing a work's format create a derivative work?
• Does creating a new edition or arrangement extend the underlying work's copyright?
• Does registering a derivative work give me any rights in the original?
• Does the compulsory mechanical license give me copyright in my arrangement?
• Do I need permission before creating a derivative work?
• Do I need to register the underlying work separately from my derivative work?
• How can a film claim the entire motion picture while excluding the underlying text?
• How do you fix an error on a derivative-work registration?
• How do you register a new software version as a derivative work?
• How do you register a translation?
• How much originality must a derivative work add?
• How should copyright notice be handled on a derivative work?
• Is a musical arrangement of a public-domain melody copyrightable?
• Is an unauthorized use the same as an unlawful use for derivative-work purposes?
• Is a photograph of a public-domain painting copyrightable?
• Is the originality needed to register a derivative work the same as transformativeness in fair use?
• What are common examples of derivative works?
• What are the competing originality standards for derivative works?
• What are the Copyright Office's examples of excluded and new material?
• What are the Material Excluded and New Material Included fields for?
• What are the most common mistakes in registering a derivative work?
• What derivative works have courts found original enough — and not enough?
• What did Durham Industries v. Tomy decide about derivative originality?
• What did Stewart v. Abend decide about derivative works?
• What does copyright in a derivative work actually cover?
• What happens if a derivative work is built on copyrighted material without permission?
• What is a derivative work under copyright law?
• What is a thin copyright?
• What is the derivative works exception to copyright termination?
• What is the difference between a derivative work and a compilation?
• What is the difference between year of completion and publication on the application?
• What license terms should a derivative author watch for?
• What should I check before adapting a work I believe is in the public domain?
• What statutory carve-outs permit making adaptations without infringing?
• When does modifying software create an infringing derivative work?
• Which application should be used to register a derivative work?
• Who is the claimant on a derivative-work application?
• Whose name goes in the author field on a derivative-work application?
• Why does the law require a derivative work to be distinguishable from its source?
• Why register a derivative work if copyright is automatic?