Craig Wright receives response from US Copyright Office; Satoshi claims enter ‘examination process’

The United States copyright office has issued a response to Craig Wright’s application to lay legal claim to the Bitcoin [BTC] whitepaper and software. The May 22 response from the office paints a grim picture for the hopes of the nChain’s chief scientist’s claims of being Satoshi Nakamoto.

Firstly, the document stated that it “does not have an opposition procedure for copyright registrations,” highlighting the case of patents and trademarks. The document further read that any “disputes over the claims in registration may be heard before federal courts” and that if the applicant issues “false information,” they will be “subject to penalties.”

The Copyright Office has received lots of questions about certain Bitcoin registrations, see our response: https://t.co/C0dBuzec4X

— US Copyright Office (@CopyrightOffice) May 22, 2019

Speaking on the topic of acquiring the identity of a pseudonym, the document stated:

“In a case in which a work is registered under a pseudonym, the Copyright Office does not investigate whether there is a provable connection between the claimant and the pseudonymous author.”

Coming to the examination process of the disputed pieces of the intellectual property i.e. the whitepaper and the software, the copyright office will conduct an “examination,” to determine if the “deposited work is eligible for protection under the Copyright Act,” and if it requires “registration.”

The office will contact the Wright if any “inconsistencies” sprout. Furthermore, the office will correspond with him to submit “well known work whose author is known,” in relation to his submitted claim.

Wright and his application are currently in the “examination process,” with the office ‘taking note,’ of the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, which the applicant, unsurprisingly, confirmed he is.

The document concluded:

“In the case of the two registrations issued to Mr. Wright, during the examination process, the Office took note of the well-known pseudonym “Satoshi Nakamoto,” and asked the applicant to confirm that Craig Steven Wright was the author and claimant of the works being registered. Mr. Wright made that confirmation. This correspondence is part of the public registration record.”

Regardless of the document, the crypto-community on Twitter have dismissed Wright’s claims time and time again, stating that the recent application was ‘just another form,’ and that ‘anyone can file it.’