3 Nimmer on Copyright § 10.07
Summary
Various issues arise concerning recordation of transfers, most surrounding the issue of priority. This section discusses that web of issues.
A transferee sometimes hesitates to record his transfer because he does not wish the amount or nature of the consideration that he paid to become a matter of public knowledge. This problem is often solved through the device of the so-called “short form” document of transfer. At the same time that the transferor executes the full contract of transfer, which recites the consideration that the transferee has or will thereafter pay to the transferor, the transferor also executes a second short form document, reciting in full the rights transferred but referencing the consideration either in general terms (e.g., “for good and adequate consideration”) or referencing the longer document for a recitation of the consideration. Only the short form is recorded.1
1.1