The Copyright Office is modernizing its operations by moving from a paper-based to a Web-based processing environment. This change will allow the Office to better meet the needs of its customers through more online services and faster processing times. However, the transition has caused a temporary backlog of paper applications. The time lag for receiving a registration certificate is currently up to 8 months. The Office is working diligently to improve the processing time and apologizes for this inconvenience.

Regardless of when you receive your certificate, the effective date of registration of a work is still the day all the required elements in acceptable form are received by the Copyright Office.

You are strongly encouraged to register claims using the new Web-based registration system named electronic Copyright Office (eCO) e-Service. Currently in production under a beta test, eCO e-Service is easy to use and offers a reduced fee for electronic registrations ($35). You will receive your registration certificate in a much shorter time than you will if you send a paper application. (Read further information.)