How do I correct a previous copyright registration?

May 10, 2011

Dear Music Lawyer,

I registered a bunch of my unreleased songs with the Copyright Office a couple years ago. Now, I'm releasing a CD, but I decided to change the title of a song. Do I need to re-register it?

—Karen

Dear Karen,

No, re-registration is not necessary. Copyright does not protect the titles of songs so a change of title does not affect the copyright for the work and does not require a new registration. If, however, you want the new title to be part of the public record, then you would need to file a Form CA.

Form CA is used when an earlier registration has been completed in the Copyright Office and some of the facts given in that registration are incorrect or incomplete and you want to place the correct or complete facts on record. Filing a Form CA is known as making a "Supplementary Registration." The filing fee for a Form CA is currently $100.

Form CA is available on the Copyright Office website here. More information on Supplementary Registrations is available in Circular 8 here.

If you're curious, "CA" stands for "Correction and Amplification!"

—Amy E. Mitchell