Copyrights Go Online and Features Cheaper, Faster, Easier Registration

The U.S. Copyright Office (www.copyright.gov) has just implemented an online registration process that will reduce both unnecessary paper submissions and filing fees, as part of its ongoing re-engineering and modernization efforts.

At the heart of the re-engineering initiative is a new online registration system named electronic Copyright Office (eCO), which went live on July 1, 2008. Filing a copyright registration application on eService claim via eCO offers several advantages:

• • lower filing fee of $35 for a basic claim;
• • fastest processing time;
• • earlier effective date of registration;
• • online status tracking;
• • *secure payment by credit or debit card, electronic check or Copyright Office deposit account;
• • and ability to upload certain categories of deposits directly into eCO as electronic files.

The Copyright Office also plans to release the new Form CO, which effectively replaces six traditional paper application forms. Users can complete a Form CO online, print it out and send it to the Copyright Office with payment and a copy(ies) of the work being registered. Each Form CO is imprinted with 2-D barcodes that are scanned to automatically transfer the information contained in the form into an eCO service request record. The fee for registering a basic claim using Form CO is $45.

Copyrights are protections granted by federal law to protect “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. The copyright laws allow an artist or author of a work of art to have the exclusive rights to copy, distribute, sell, display, and perform the work, as well as create “derivative works” or adaptations of the work.

While federal copyrights attach automatically once the work is “fixed” in a medium, registering a work with the U.S. Copyright Office is highly recommended. Registration provides some additional protections against infringement and allows better enforcement of the author’s rights in the work. In order to be fixed, a work must simply be given some tangible or permanent form. For instance, text is fixed when it is written or typed; songs or dances are typically fixed if recorded.

Clients with original works of authorship, including software, art, logos, etc., are encouraged to call our intellectual property team to discuss how to best protect their work product.

Disclaimer: This alert appears for general information purposes only. The information it contains does not constitute legal advice. While we endeavor to provide information that is accurate at the time of publication, the law differs in various jurisdictions and is subject to change at any time.