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FAQ

Policy for Updating Titles on Registration

Full Question: If I register a work but later decide to change the title, how can I update the registration with the new title?

Answer: You may file an application for a supplementary registration to reflect that the title of the registered work has changed. To do so, you must be one of the following: the author of the work, the claimant (the owner who owns all of the rights that initially belonged to the author), the owner of one or more-but not all-of the exclusive rights in the work, or the agent of the author, claimant, or owner of fewer than all rights.

A supplementary registration is a special type of registration that may be used to correct an error in a copyright registration or amplify the information given in a registration. A supplementary registration does not cancel or replace the original registration or the registration number nor does it change or remove the information contained in the original registration. Rather, this type of registration adds information to the public record, and it augments-but does not supersede-the information in the original registration. The Office will issue a new certificate and registration number for the supplementary registration, and the original and supplementary registrations will be linked in the Office’s public catalog.

A supplementary registration is appropriate only in certain situations, such as reflecting a change in the title of the work. See 37 C.F.R. ¤ 202.6 at https://www.copyright.gov/title37/202/37cfr202-6.html; Compendium (Third) ¤ ¤ 1802.1 and 1802.6 at https://www.copyright.gov/comp3/; and Circular 8 at https://www.copyright.gov/circs/.

Answered by:

Rob Kasunic, Director of Registration Policy and Practices at the U.S. Copyright Office.