Copyright Office's Increased Fees

As of August 1, 2009, the Copyright Office is instituting new fees for registering works that are protectable under the Copyright Law of the United States. And, as with many of the federal government agencies, the Copyright Office encourages people to register on-line.

In the case of a fully electronic registration of a basic claim, the fee remains $35.00. However, because the Copyright Office is required to recover the full cost for many of the services it provides, it has now instituted a new schedule of fees.

Because copyright protection applies to more than literary writings, there are other application forms to consider. If you are registering a visual art work, performing art work, sound recording or serial, such as magazine issues, newspapers, newsletters, then you must select the proper form whether you submit your registration application electronically or via a paper format. The fees for those kinds of submissions have been increased from $45.00 to between $50.00 and $65.00.

While the Copyright Office’s registration forms are short, their apparent simplicity can be deceptive. From the applicant’s point of view, it is critical to understand what kind of work you are seeking to protect and what ownership interest you have in the work. Moreover, the electronic registration process can require submissions to be made partially on-line and partially via delivery of an actual hard copy to the Copyright Office.

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