Eaton Peabody

The 1976 Copyright Act established statutory fees for certain services provided by the U.S. Copyright Office such as registering claims to copyright and renewals of claims. Under later statutes enacted by Congress, the Register of Copyrights was given the authority to set the fees and to charge additional fees based on the costs incurred by the Copyright Office in providing the services.

The Copyright Office has announced plans to increase many of its fees. Unless Congress acts beforehand, the fee increases will become effective on July 1, 2006. Fees that will change include the basic copyright registration fee, which will increase from $30 to $45 per application, and the fee for registration of a renewal claim with an addendum, which will increase from $30 to $220. The fees for document recordation, supplementary registration, search services, and certificates are also scheduled to increase under the proposal.

Any request received in the U.S. Copyright Office on or after July 1, 2006, for a service whose fee is scheduled to increase on that date must be accompanied by the new fee.

Please contact Jonathan Huntington, jhuntington@eatonpeabody.com, for further information.

This paper is provided as general information, and is not a substitute for legal or other professional advice.