Compendium II: Copyright Office Practices is a manual produced by the United States Copyright Office. It is intended to be used primarily by the Copyright Office staff, as a general guide to the Copyright Office policies and procedures.
The Compendium II is directed to policy under the 1976 Copyright Act, as amended. The title Compendium II indicates that it replaces the original Compendium, which described policy under the earlier 1909 Copyright Act.
The Compendium II is an internal manual, and it does not have the force of law, unlike the U.S. Copyright Act or Copyright Office regulations. However, for some issues that are not addressed in the statute or regulations (such as, for example, whether to issue a registration to a government body claiming a copyright in its enacted laws), the Compendium II is the only on-point authority.
The Compendium II is sometimes, but not often, used by attorneys in dealings with the Copyright Office. This is in contrast to, for example, the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure, which is heavily relied upon by attorneys and agents dealing with the patent functions of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
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