The U.S. Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is amending its fees for certain public services effective May 1. The new fee schedule governs registration, recordation, licensing activities and FOIA services, among others. The Copyright Office revisits its fee schedule every few years to align its fees with the cost of providing services, as required by the Copyright Act. This is the first fee adjustment since 2009.
The new fee structure follows a lengthy process in which the Copyright Office invited and carefully considered public comments on a number of business and policy points. Register of Copyrights Maria A. Pallante delivered proposed new fees for registration, recordation, and related services to Congress in November 2013.
“Copyright Office services benefit many constituencies, including authors, users of copyrighted works, and the general public,” stated Pallante, who is also director of the Copyright Office. “We took into account the needs of all these constituencies in setting fees.”
For many registrations, the fees will rise from $35 to $55 per claim. However, after considering comments, the office will offer a reduced registration fee of $35 for single authors who file an online claim for a single work that is not a work made for hire.
“The Copyright Office is committed to maintaining an affordable copyright registration system and understands that works of independent creators fuel the nation’s economy and are critical to the Library of Congress collections,” Pallante said. “Registration not only provides important legal remedies for authors, but also ensures a more comprehensive public database, including information about ownership, licensing and the expiration of protection.”
The newly adjusted fees will allow greater cost recovery for registering copyright claims and for other services. The law does not call on the Copyright Office to recoup all its costs, but instead directs it to balance administrative costs with the overall objectives of the copyright system.
For some services, fees will remain the same or be adjusted downward. Copyright renewal fees, for example, will decrease from $115 to $100. For services for which costs have gone up, the Copyright Office is implementing fee increases to offset rising costs. In addition to registrations, services affected include searches of copyright records and expedited services. The fee for filing copyright claims on paper applications will rise from $65 to $85.
For a complete list of adjusted fees, go to www.copyright.gov/docs/fees.html.
