GameCatalog.org includes information on over 1500 U.S. registered copyrights for games. The copyrights may be for the graphics on the cover of a game or a game board, the rules, or other items associated with a game.
A registered copyright is one that has been submitted to a national copyright office, which retains records of the copyright and matters relating to the copyright. An unregistered copyright is one that was not submitted to a national copyright office.
Copyrights can be registered for both published and unpublished works.
For more details on copyrights, see:
- U.S. Copyright Office
- Copyright Timeline: A History of Copyright in the United States by the Association of Research Libraries
Copyright Notices
A copyright notice is marked on a work using any of the following markings, or similar ones, ordinarily with the year of registration and the name of the copyright registrant:
- Copyright
- Copr.
- ©
Copyright notice was required for all works first published before March 1, 1989, subject to some exceptions discussed below. If the notice was omitted or a mistake was made in using copyright notice, the work generally lost copyright protection in the United States. Copyright notice is optional for works published on or after March 1, 1989, unpublished works, and foreign works; however, there are legal benefits for including notice on your work.
(Source: Circular 3, Copyright Notice)
U.S. Copyright Resources Online
From 1790 to 1870, copyright applications and records were maintained by federal district courts and a variety of government offices in Washington, D.C. Starting in 1870, all have been maintained by the U.S. Copyright Office, a part of the Library of Congress.
The U.S. Copyright Office has digitized all original handwritten and printed copyright cards from 1870 through 1977, which are available in the Virtual Card Catalog. The VCC is still considered a proof of concept.
The copyright card catalog filing drawers can also be examined in person in Washington, D.C.
From 1870 to around 1897, information about multiple copyrights were handwritten, typically on the same card.
Note “Game” at upper left. In the list of game titles, a hyphen (–) is used to indicate that “Game” is part of the title. The text in parentheses, such as (Dram. Comp.), indicate that the item is a dramatic composition (not a game per se).
Starting around 1897, information about a single copyright was handwritten on a card.
All U.S. copyrights since 1978 were recorded digitally and can be searched online separately.
From 1891 to mid-1906, the U.S. Copyright Office published summary information concerning each registered copyright in its Catalogue of Title Entries. From mid-1906 through the end of 1977, they published copyright information in the Catalog of Copyright Entries. All of these volumes have been digitized and are available online. These volumes can be searched or perused via the following websites:
- The Copyright Records collection at Archive.org
Has all volumes but may not permit searching across them; search can be performed from within each volume - Google’s copyright search page
Searches across volumes from 1922 through 1977, though doesn’t always find a search term in all volumes that have it - The University of Pennsylvania Libraries Online Books Page
Provides additional copyright research sources and advice - Stanford’s Copyright Renewal Database
Searches across books published in the U.S. between 1923 and 1963. The database includes only renewal records, not original registrations, and only Class A (book) renewals received by the U.S. Copyright Office between 1950 and 1992 - The New York Public Library’s database of the Catalogue of Copyright Entries
U.S. Copyright Classifications
Copyright classes are used to identify the category of a copyrighted work, and have evolved over time.
No classification system was used from 1870 through 1899.
From 1870 to 1897, copyright numbers included one or two characters before the registration number, which restarted at 1 at the beginning of each year. Each letter represented the year of copyright, not a class of the type of work copyrighted. For example, copyrights in 1870 were preceded by an “A”, 1871 by “B”, and so on to 1894 with “Z”, and then “AA” for 1895, “B2” for 1896, and “C2” for 1897.
From 1898 to 1899, no letters were used before the registration number, which restarted at 1 at the beginning of each year.
In 1900, four classes of works were used:
- Class A: Books and dramas
- Class B: Periodicals
- Class C: Music
- Class D: Miscellanouse—maps, charts, chromolithographs, engravings, prints, photographs, and fine arts
From 1901 through 30 June 1909, nine classes or works were used. The copyright number started with the class letter, followed by ” XXc ” (standing for the 20th century) and then the registration number, which did not restart at 1 at the beginning of each year.
- Class A: Books
- Class B: Periodicals
- Class C: Music
- Class D: Drama
- Class E: Maps and Charts
- Class F: Engravings, cuts, and prints
- Class G: Chromolithographs and lithographs
- Class H: Photographs
- Class I: Original works of art
The Copyright Act of 1909 introduced the following classes, which were in use from 1 July 1909 through 31 December 1977. Copyright numbering did not restart at 1 at the beginning of each year.
- Class A: Books
- Class B: Periodicals
- Class C: Lectures, sermons, addresses, or similar productions, prepared for oral delivery.
- Class D: Dramatic and dramatico-musical compositions, such as dramas, comedies, operas, operettas and similar works.
- Class E: Musical compositions, including other vocal and all instrumental compositions, with or without words.
- Class F: Maps.
- Class G: Works of art or a model or design for a work of art
- Class H, Reproductions of works of art
- Class I: Drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character (“plastic” here means three-dimensional models, not necessarily made with plastic materials)
- Class J: Photographs ( in the Copyright Act of 1909, included moving-picture films)
- Class K: Prints and pictorial illustrations
Copyrights for game covers, game boards, and other graphic materials typically fall under Class K. Copyrights for game rules generally are included in Class A. Several copyrights have been found in Class G. One has been found in Class I, which include IP and IU
In 1912, the following classes were introduced:
- Class L: “Motion picture photoplays”; motion pictures were removed from Class J (Photographs)
- Class M: “Motion pictures other than photoplays”
The ” XXc ” notation in a copyright number was dropped in 1928.
In 1929, the following class changes were introduced:
- Class A was used generally for hardcover book materials
- Class AA was added for paperbacks, pamphlets, leaflets, and unbound materials
- Class A-5 was added for contributions to periodicals, predominantly advertising material
Game rules copyrights are also found in Class AA.
In 1940, the following class was introduced:
- Class KK: Prints and labels.
Copyrights for game covers, game boards, and other graphic materials typically fall under Classes K and KK. Copyrights for game rules generally are included in Class A.
At the beginning of 1946, registration numbers restarted at 1.
In 1971, the following class was introduced:
- Class N: “Sound recording”
The 1973 amendment to the Copyright Act of 1909 introduced the following changes on 1 January 1973:
- Class A (Books) was amended as a: “Published book manufactured in the United States of America.”
- Class A-B was introduced as a: “Foreign book or periodical manufactured outside the United States of America”.
- Class A-B Ad Interim was introduced as a: “Book or periodical in the English language manufactured and first published outside the United States of America”.
- Class B (Periodicals) was amended to be a “periodical manufactured in the United States of America”.
- Class BB was introduced as a: “Contribution to a periodical manufactured in the United States of America”.
- Class E (Musical compositions) was amended as: “Musical composition the author of which is a citizen or domiciliary of the United States of America or which was first published in the United States of America”.
- Class E Foreign was introduced as “Musical composition the author of which is not a citizen or domiciliary of the United States of America and which was not first published in the United States of America”.
Copyrights for game rules generally are included in Class A.
Copyright renewals are noted by “R” followed by a number.
The classification system was replaced in 1989 and currently includes the following classes, in effect starting on 1 March 1989:
- TX: Literary
“published or unpublished nondramatic literary works, excluding periodicals or serial issues. This class includes a wide variety of works: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, textbooks, reference works, directories, catalogs, advertising copy, compilations of infor- mation, and computer programs.” (source: Form TX, May 2019) - VA: Visual
“pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works,” such as two-dimensional and three- dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art; photographs; prints and art reproductions; and maps, globes, charts, technical drawings, diagrams, and models.” (source: Form VA, May 2019) - SE: Single Serials
“a work issued or intended to be issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely. This class includes a variety of works, such as periodicals; newspapers; annuals; and the journals, proceedings, and transactions of societies. Do not use Form SE to register an individual contribution to a serial.” (source: Form SE, May 2019) - PA: Performing Arts
“published or unpublished works of the performing arts. This class includes works prepared for the purpose of being ‘performed’ directly before an audience or indirectly ‘by means of any device or process.’ Works of the performing arts include: (1) musical works, including any accompanying words; (2) dramatic works, including any accompanying music; (3) pantomimes and choreographic works; and (4) motion pictures and other audiovisual works.” (source: Form PA, May 2019) - SR: Sound Recording
“published or unpublished sound recordings. Form SR should be used when the copyright claim is limited to the sound recording itself, and it may also be used where the same copyright claimant is seeking simultaneous registration of the underlying musical, dramatic, or literary work embodied in the phonorecord.
With one exception, “sound recordings” are works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds. The exception is for the audio portions of audiovisual works, such as a motion picture soundtrack or an audio cassette accom- panying a filmstrip. These are considered a part of the audiovisual work as a whole.” (source: Form SR, May 2019)
Game covers and boards generally fall into class VA, and rules in class TX. Video games are included in PA.
(Reference with even more classes: U.S. Copyright Office, Administrative Copyright Classification Systems, May 2018, retrieved 22 October 2019.)
British Copyrights
From the 1560s, therefore, a form of copyright could be secured by two methods: by Royal Letters Patent; or by our Guild rule that made it an offence not to present to the Wardens – to put on record, as in the text ‘Entered at Stationers’ Hall’ – every publication not protected by royal privilege. […]
When the Copyright Act of 1911 came into force on 1 July 1912 it brought to an end the practice of record-keeping which the Stationers of the 16th century invented for their mutual protection, which Parliament adopted and modified through a series of Acts over two centuries, and which in modern times has given the Company a unique piece of international fame: the invention of copyright.
(Source: The Stationers’ Company and Copyright: a brief introduction, by Noel Osborne)
Following are sources for researching British copyrights.
- Copyright ledgers at the National Archives at Kew
- Copyright deposits at British universities, such as game rules from around 1870 to the 1920s at the Cambridge University Library