The copyright registration number (tag 017) that is stamped on a map by the Copyright Office is transcribed in the cataloging record for all materials except some map series/sets or serial (1) maps. Pre-1978 copyright registration numbers are transcribed without a space between the alphabetic prefix and the number. Post 1977 copyright registration numbers are transcribed with a space between the alphabetic prefix and the number. Examples:

Note that the Copyright Office’s stamps may omit the hyphen within the registration number. To facilitate consistency in recording the number and to ensure continued compatibility with Copyright Cataloging Division practice, continue to transcribe the copyright number with the connective hyphen. Example:

Multiple Registration Number:

When more than one copyright registration number is associated with an item and the number are consecutive, the first and last numbers are transcribed. A double hyphen separate the numbers, and the alphabetic prefix is not repeated before the second number. Example:

When more than one copyright registration number is associated with an item and the number are not consecutive, all copyright registration numbers are transcribed. The number are separated by a semi-colon. Example:

When one or more sheets of a map series/set or serial (2) map is stamped with a copyright registration number, the numbers can be transcribed if the number of sheets is small or if the copyright registration numbers are consecutive, otherwise, do not transcribe the copyright registration numbers.

See also:

Numbers