Humm,
It appears some things in Copyright © needs to be cleared up. Today the moment you complete a song/musical work and put it in tangable form you automaticly own the Copyright.

Registration, with the U.S. Copyright Office merely establishes a date of copyright that allows the writer unrefutable rights in case of a dispute somewhere down the line.

If you assign the copyright to a Publisher, you are, in effect selling your Copyright to the Publisher in return for Royalities in the work.

A Publisher doesn't register the work again. Usually a work can only be registered once but there are some instances where a writer may want to re-register if changes are made in the work. These instances are covered in the instructions for the PA and PA Short forms. The songwriter uses the Pa form or the new Electronic form.

If a Record Label records and releases the song and usually songs by more than one writer on a CD they will use the SR form to Register the Release. The songwriter nor the publisher is involved in this type Registration.

A form of the PA form Regular or Short Form protects the songwriter. The SR form protects the Record Label.

In case there was some dispute over copyright an investgator may actually go to the copyright office find the copyright and give testimony in court of his findings.

Copyright isn't complicated but a dispute may be. Other records besides a registration could come into play of who wrote a song and can only be decided in a court if it comes to that.

In Marc's case where he writes with many writer's and they keep records, a registration is only needed if a song is placed. As they desire.

Ray E. Strode