A Walk Through The Copyright Office – Introduction

There are a number of people who complain about the copyright office’s turnaround times. The return time can vary from a quick turnaround of 1-2 months, to 9 months. It’s necessary to remember that the copyright office is processing thousands of requests at any given time, but more importantly, your registration date is effective when their office receives your completed application, fee, and deposit, not when you get the final form back.

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What follows is a pictoral display of every step of the registration process, including one or two you don’t want to know about personally (because you made a mistake), but are non-the-less integral to the system.

The Copyright Office (or, CO) is undergoing sweeping changes in terms of how they serve the public. Modernization of systems for electronic receipt of submissions to the imaging of forms, checks, and correspondence, means that the CO is always looking at how they can better serve the public. These images may be a bit dated as they were made at a point where modernization was taking place, however, they are, in my opinion, a revealing insight into all that goes into your registration, and why it was reasonable that the registration fee increased from $30 to $45 awhile back.

When the CO completes the process, we look forward to bringing you another look - behind the scenes - at the Copyright Office, of how their new, more automated world, brings it, and thus, your registrations, into the 21st century.

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A Walk Through The Copyright Office:

• The CO – Introduction
• The CO – Your Registration Arrives
• The CO – Come On In
• The CO – Step 2
• The CO – Step 3
• The CO – Step 4
• The CO – Step 4A (Optional)
• The CO – Step 5
• The CO – Step 6
• The CO – Step 7
• The CO – All Done
• The CO – Special Circumstances (For You)
• The CO – Special Circumstances (For The CO)
• The CO – Closing Thoughts

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