Craig "False Satoshi" Wright applied for copyrights registration on White Paper and bitcoin code with the US Copyright Office.

The US Copyright Office received two applications for the copyright of the bitcoin White Paper and bitcoin code from Craig Wright. According to the published applications, Wright calls himself the author of the bitcoin White Paper and early version of the bitcoin code. The claims state that Wright acted under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, who created the bitcoin White Paper and its code in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

Copyright applications do not mean that the US Copyright Office will grant copyrights on bitcoin to Craig Wright. Anyone who wishes to register some intellectual property is able to apply for registrations. But if the US Copyright Office does not receive similar applications from anyone else, then there is a high risk that the office will issue copyright patent to Craig Wright.

According to the director of Coin Center, legal center working in the field of cryptocurrency, the office rarely checks properly applications for authorship.

“Registering a copyright is just filing a form. The Copyright Office does not investigate the validity of the claim; they just register it. Unfortunately there is no official way to challenge a registration. If there are competing claims, the Office will just register all of them,” wrote Jerry Brito in his twitter.

Obviously false copyright applications are considered fraud in the United States and are punishable by a fine of up to $2,500.

Later, the US Copyright Office clarified its position:

“As a general rule, when the Copyright Office receives an application for registration, the claimant certifies as to the truth of the statements made in the submitted materials. The Copyright Office does not investigate the truth of any statement made,” the Copyright Office wrote in a press release. “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.”