Copyright in your code is automatic the moment a developer's fingers leave the keyboard—saving a file to disk is "fixation" (17 U.S.C. § 102(a)). But the Copyright Act reserves its sharpest teeth for owners who have registered: registration is the precondition to suing for a U.S. work (Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, 586 U.S. 296 (2019)), and timely registration unlocks statutory damages and attorney's fees (17 U.S.C. § 412). The hard part is the deposit—because developers want the legal benefits of registration but do not want to dump valuable, secret source code into a public government file. The deposit rules are the elegant, fussy compromise.

This checklist is the software-specific overlay on the copyright registration checklist. For the full treatment see copyright registration of computer programs and the strategic companion legal protection of software—copyrights, patents, trade secrets, and contracts.

Phase 1 — Nail down ownership and clearance first

  • Confirm whether the code is a work made for hire — an employee writing code within the scope of employment makes the employer the author and owner (17 U.S.C. § 101; § 201(b)).
  • For contractors, secure a signed assignment under 17 U.S.C. § 204(a) — contractor code is usually NOT a work made for hire (see employee invention assignment agreements).
  • Have founders formally assign any pre-incorporation code to the company.
  • Identify the correct claimant (the entity that owns the copyright) and prepare a transfer statement if ownership came by assignment.
  • Inventory any open-source or third-party components — you do not own them and must disclaim them in the limitation-of-claim field (see open source licensing landmines in enterprise software development).

Why this matters / traps. Naming the wrong claimant is one of the most damaging registration mistakes. Registering a codebase as if you authored every line when half came from npm is inaccurate and, if knowing and material, can give an opponent an opening under 17 U.S.C. § 411(b).

Phase 2 — Determine version, publication, and application

  • Identify the exact version you are registering (e.g., "Acme Scheduler, Version 3.2") — each version with new copyrightable authorship is a separate work.
  • Determine publication status: software is published when made available to an unrestricted group by sale, license, loan, or rental (often only the object code is distributed, so source usually remains unpublished).
  • Choose the Standard Application for a single program, or the group option for unpublished works where eligible.
  • Plan to register before publication, or within three months of first publication, to preserve § 412 remedies.

Why this matters / traps. The published/unpublished distinction drives the statutory-damages deadline, the available group options, and how many deposit copies you owe. When in doubt, treat each shipped version as published and register it individually.

Phase 3 — Complete the application and limitation of claim

  • Select "computer program" as the type of work (the underlying legal pigeonhole is the literary work).
  • Provide the title and version; name the author(s) and claimant with a transfer statement if needed.
  • Check the "computer program" box in the Author Created field (this also captures any screen displays the program generates, if the same party owns both).
  • In Limitation of Claim, disclaim any preexisting, previously published, previously registered, public-domain, or third-party (including open-source) material.
  • Use the "Note to Copyright Office" field to explain multi-year copyright notices or developmental history to avoid a delaying inquiry.

Why this matters / traps. A single registration may cover both new and preexisting source code only if the preexisting code was never published or registered AND the same claimant owns both. The moment preexisting code was published, registered, dedicated to the public domain, or owned by someone else, it must be disclaimed.

Phase 4 — Prepare the source-code deposit (the 25-and-25 rule)

  • For a program without trade secrets, deposit the first 25 and last 25 pages of source code (or 50 representative pages if there is no precise beginning/middle/end; the entire code if 50 pages or fewer).
  • Always include the page bearing the copyright notice, if any, and add the title and version to the first page.
  • Deposit source code, not object code, whenever possible (a PDF is preferred); screenshots are not an acceptable substitute for code.
  • For scripting languages (JavaScript and similar), treat the script as the equivalent of source code and deposit the same number of pages.

Why this matters / traps. Those 50 pages give the examiner enough to confirm copyrightable source code while leaving the bulk of a large program out of the public record. Once registered, the deposit becomes public — anyone can request to inspect it.

Phase 5 — Protect trade secrets in the deposit

  • If the source code contains trade secrets, state so in writing and choose one option: (a) first 10 and last 10 pages, nothing blocked out; (b) first 25 and last 25 pages with trade-secret portions redacted, provided redactions are less than 50% of the deposit; (c) first 25 and last 25 pages of object code plus 10+ consecutive unredacted source pages; (d) for a program under 50 pages, the whole thing with redactions under 50%; or (e) 20–50 representative pages if there is no precise structure.
  • Ensure the unblocked portions contain an appreciable amount of copyrightable expression.
  • Include the portion bearing the copyright notice, if any.

Why this matters / traps. The Office strictly enforces these redaction rules and will refuse a non-conforming deposit. You cannot black out the whole file and call it a deposit — the examiner must see enough genuine original code. The detailed guidance is in the Compendium (3d ed.), Ch. 1500, § 1509.1(C)(4)(d).

Phase 6 — Handle versions, screen displays, and special cases

  • Register a meaningful new release as a derivative work, claiming only the new and revised code (17 U.S.C. § 103(b)) and disclaiming previously registered material; keep clean diffs/release logs as evidence.
  • For derivative deposits, deposit the first 25 and last 25 pages if new material appears throughout, or any 50 pages containing the new or revised material if it does not.
  • Register screen displays/GUIs with the program on one application if the same party owns both (no separate claim needed); file separately if owners differ.
  • For object code, understand the Rule of Doubt — the Office registers on your assertion and withholds the § 410(c) presumption for that material; deposit source whenever possible.
  • If the source code is lost, request special relief in writing, explaining the unavailability and the overlap with an available version.
  • For HTML, register it (if at all) as a literary work authored by a human, depositing the entire code — the Office will not register HTML as a computer program.

Why this matters / traps. Object code triggers the Rule of Doubt because an examiner cannot read machine code to verify copyrightable authorship, undermining the prima facie validity benefit you would otherwise want in litigation.

Common mistakes

  • "We always meant to" — failing to register before infringement, losing prompt access to court and § 412 remedies.
  • Naming the wrong claimant because contractor or founder code was never assigned.
  • Registering a codebase that contains open-source components without disclaiming them.
  • Over-redacting a trade-secret deposit (more than 50% blocked) and drawing a refusal.
  • Depositing object code by default and forfeiting the validity presumption.
  • Forgetting that each new version is a separate work needing its own registration.

Primary authority

  • 17 U.S.C. § 101 (definition of "computer program"; work made for hire); § 102(a) (literary works; § 102(b) idea/expression); § 103(b) (derivative works); § 201 (ownership); § 204(a) (transfers).
  • 17 U.S.C. §§ 408, 410(c)–(d), 411(b), 412 (registration, deposit, presumption, inaccuracy, remedy timing).
  • 37 C.F.R. Part 202; Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices (3d ed.), Ch. 1500 (software deposit, trade-secret options, screen displays) and Ch. 600 (Rule of Doubt).
  • Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, 586 U.S. 296 (2019); Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., 593 U.S. 1 (2021); Computer Associates International, Inc. v. Altai, Inc., 982 F.2d 693 (2d Cir. 1992).
  • U.S. Copyright Office, copyright.gov (eCO, Circular 4 fee schedule, software circulars).

Related resources

This checklist provides general information and is not legal advice. Copyright Office deposit rules, fees, and practices change; confirm current requirements at copyright.gov and consult qualified counsel.