Copyright Office Announces Fee Increases Effective August 1, 2009

The Copyright Office has announced that a new fee increase will be effective August 1, 2009. Attached is the Analysis and Proposed Fee Adjustment Schedule submitted by the Copyright Office to Congress.

I spent a few minutes reviewing the new pricelist, and in my opinion, the increases are fairly modest and should not be much of a concern to the average copyright registrant. Filing prices for the registration of a basic electronic claim will remain $35.00, but the price of a Form CO filing will increase to $50.00 from the current $45.00, and the price of a paper filing of Forms PA, SR, TX, VA, and SE will go up to $65.00 from the current $45.00. In addition, the price of a Form GR/CP paper filing on a claim in a group of periodicals, published periodicals, or database updates will increase to $65.00 from the current $45.00, and the registration of a claim in a group of daily newspapers or newsletters will increase from the current $70.00 to $80.00.

Incidentally, there was one price decrease: supplemental registration prices dropped from $115.00 to $100.00.

All in all, this rate increase should not cause too many companies or individuals much concern: while we all may feel the loss of $10.00 or $20.00 a bit more than we used to in better times, this increase certainly is not one that will break many banks or cause many companies or individuals to rethink registration.