So, it would appear that to take advantage of the simplified lower priced copyright fee you must practice some due diligence. I hope this helps my fellow PG users. Any comments, ideas on how I can convince them to not make me part with another $20?

General Idea, Me = me, U.S. Copyright Office = U.S. Copyright Office Rep

Dear (Me):

We are contacting you to inquire about authorship. By checking “yes” to the three statements at the beginning of the application process, you were directed to the Single Application screens and charged a $35 filing fee.

The Single Application is limited to one work; created by a single individual author; where the author is the sole owner of all rights in the work; and all the authorship contained in the work and in the deposit is by the same author. For additional information about the Single Application, see http://www.copyright.gov/fls/sl04s.pdf .

In this case, it is not clear whether all of the authorship contained in the work and in the deposit is by the same author. Although you created the words and music to the song, it appears that there are additional vocal and/or instrumental performers on the CD or mp3 file that you submitted as a deposit.

If there are additional vocal and/or instrumental performers, please let us know and we will provide instructions for changing this to a Standard Application.

Or, if there are no additional performers, please confirm this.

Please note that if we do not receive a response to this message within 20 days, we will close this case without processing your registration or notifying you further, and forward your deposit copy(ies) under the provisions of the current copyright law. The fee is not refundable. If you re-apply for registration after the case is closed, you must send a new application, copy and fee. The effective date of registration will be based on the new submission.

Sincerely,
....US Copyright Office....


My Reply ----

Dear Copyright office,


My intent was to copyright the lyrics and the music (Melody). I generated backing tracks ( which includes samples of live musicians playing prerecorded segments of music based on the chords I enter) that I purchased from PGmusic.com to accompany. At any rate. Having the lyrics and music (melody accompanying lyrics) was my intent. Thank you for the followup and I appreciate you helping me understand so that I may use the proper forms going forward. If I need to reapply or modify by supplying a lead sheet etc. please let me know.

Sincerely,

Me

Reply to Reply ----


Dear (Me),

Thank you for your reply confirming that there are additional performers on the CD or sound file you submitted as a deposit. We are now contacting you so that you can resubmit your application and pay the additional $20.00 fee due. By checking “yes” to the three statements at the beginning of the application process, you were directed to the Single Application screens and charged a $35 filing fee. Your work, however, does not meet the criteria for the Single Application.

The Single Application is limited to one work; created by a single individual author; where the author is the sole owner of all rights in the work; and all the authorship contained in the work and in the deposit is by the same author. For additional information about the Single Application, see http://www.copyright.gov/fls/sl04s.pdf .

Although you wrote the lyrics and music, you confirmed that there are additional performers on the CD or mp3 file that you submitted as a deposit. Because the deposit combines musical and sound recording contributions by different authors, the work is more complex than was intended to be covered by the Single Application. Therefore, please resubmit your application on the Standard Application and pay the additional $20.00 fee due (see below for instructions). Note that the effective date of registration is not established until we receive the additional fee.

Please note that if we do not receive a response to our message within 20 days, we will close this case without processing your registration or notifying you further, and forward your deposit copy(ies) under the provisions of the current copyright law. The fee is not refundable. If you re-apply for registration after the case is closed, you must submit a new Standard Application, copy(ies) and fee. The effective date of registration will be based on the new submission.

If you have questions, please respond to this email and include a daytime phone number where we can reach you. If you need technical assistance with the resubmission process, you can contact Copyright Technology Office at (202) 707-3002 or ctoinfo@loc.gov.

Sincerely,
U.S. Copyright Office

(further instructions beyond this point tell me how to separate myself from an additional $20 resting contently in my wallet).