Outdated Applications and Obsolete Templates to be Removed from the Electronic Registration System
Issue No. 782 - October 17, 2019
On November 30, 2019, the U.S. Copyright Office will make the following changes to the electronic registration system (eCO):
- Draft copyright applications more than 1 year old: Over the years, many users have saved draft applications in the eCO system that have never been submitted to the Copyright Office. To conserve system resources, any draft application created on or before October 31, 2018, will be permanently discarded on November 30, 2019. Draft applications created and saved on or after November 1, 2018, will not be affected.
Obsolete templates: The eCO system offers a “template” feature, which may be used to create a “carbon copy” of a completed application. The template may then be used to create other applications that contain the exact same information as the previous submission.
The Office recently amended the rules for registering multiple unpublished works and multiple photographs. To register these types of works, applicants are now required to use the online applications specifically designed for a “Group of Photographs” or a “Group of Unpublished Works.”
Many templates that were previously used to submit these types of claims are now obsolete.
If an applicant uses an outdated template to submit an “unpublished collection” or a group of photographs, the claim may be refused for failing to use the correct form. To prevent these mistakes and the loss of filing fees, the following templates will be discarded on November 30, 2019:
- Any template created before March 15, 2019, for an unpublished work (the effective date for the final rule on group registration of unpublished works).
- Any template created before February 20, 2018, for a “photograph” (the effective date for the final rule on group registration of photographs).
Templates for published works or claims involving other types of works will not be affected.
For more information, contact [email protected].