I’ve Mailed My Application, Fee, and Copy of My Work to the Copyright Office. Now What?
How can I know when my submission for registration is received by the Copyright Office?
The Copyright Office does not provide a confirmation of receipt.
Currently, if you use a commercial carrier (such as Federal Express,
Airborne Express, DHL Worldwide Express, or United Parcel Service),
that company may be able to provide an acknowledgment of receipt
by the Copyright Office. Due to the mail disruption, an acknowledgment
of receipt for mail sent via the U.S. Postal Service, e.g., certified,
registered and overnight delivery, may take several weeks or longer
to receive. Claims to copyright may also be hand delivered to
the Copyright Office. See About
the Office for hours and location.
Please note that our mail service is severely disrupted. (Read more details).
How long does the registration process take, and when will I receive my certificate?
The time the Copyright Office requires to process an
application varies, depending on the amount of material the Office
is receiving. If your submission is in order, you may generally
expect to receive a certificate of registration within approximately
4 to 5 months of submission.
I just received my certificate of registration. Why can’t I find my work listed on your database?
Once a certificate is issued, it still must be cataloged
and entered into our online database. We estimate that it may
be as long as 3 months from the date a certificate is issued to
the time the record can be viewed on our website.
I’ve been getting solicitation letters from publishers. Is the Copyright Office selling my personal information?
The Copyright Office does not sell information. Copyright
Office records, however, are public records, which means anyone
may come to our office and inspect them. Occasionally organizations
such as music publishers or book publishers send a representative
to the Copyright Office to compile lists of names and addresses
of those authors who have most recently registered their works.
Their purpose, undoubtedly, is to solicit new business. This practice
is not a violation of the law.
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Note: The Copyright Office offers introductory answers to frequently asked questions about
copyright, registration, and services of the Office. Links throughout the answers will guide
you to further information on our website or from other sources. For any other questions, please visit
our Contact Us page.
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