Group Registration for Two-Dimensional Artwork Final Rule

NewsNet 1078 
December 19, 2025

The U.S. Copyright Office has created a new group registration option known as Group Registration for Two-Dimensional Artwork, or GR2D, to allow artists to register a group of published two-dimensional artworks by submitting a deposit comprising one complete digital copy of each work within the group. The final rule expands the registration options currently available to artists and permits the registration of multiple works with a single application and one filing fee.

The final rule also announces a new online registration application for this group option. The proposed rule would have allowed applicants to register up to ten works published within a thirty-day period. Based on commenters’ input and to facilitate broader participation in the registration system, the final rule permits applicants to register up to twenty works, where all works within the group were first published within the same calendar year.

The final rule takes effect on February 17, 2026, to coincide with the expected completion of related system development and educational resources. The Office will issue an additional public announcement when this option is available to applicants. For more information, please visit the Copyright Office website. 

U.S. Copyright Office Fully Operational Following Government Reopening

NewsNet 1077

November 14, 2025

The U.S. Copyright Office is fully operational following the reopening of the federal government. The Office has resumed all services and continues to administer U.S. copyright law, including registering copyright claims, recording information about copyright ownership, providing information to the public, and assisting Congress and other parts of the government.

During the lapse in appropriations, most Office functions were paused. The Office has now resumed processing copyright registrations, recordation applications, and other requests. We are working diligently to handle pending submissions as promptly as possible. Consistent with our normal practices, registration claims and recordation submissions generally will be handled in the order in which they were received, including those submitted since October 1.

Any delay that occurred in processing will not affect the effective date of registration. This is the date the Office receives in acceptable form all required registration elements: an application, a deposit, and a nonrefundable filing fee. If additional information is needed to process a registration application, the Office will correspond with applicants.

The Copyright Claims Board (CCB), the Office’s voluntary small-claims tribunal, has resumed processing claims, including those submitted during the funding lapse. The CCB will work expeditiously to review those claims and other filings and respond to emails. It will also reschedule party conferences that were cancelled.

The Office appreciates the patience and understanding of the public and users of copyright services as we process applications and other submissions. If you have questions about the status of your submission, please contact us at copyright.gov/help/ during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. eastern time. Our Copyright Office Reading Room is also open during regular business hours.

For more information about the U.S. Copyright Office, please visit us at copyright.gov.

U.S. Copyright Office Releases New Copyright Registration Toolkit  

NewsNet 1070

April 22, 2025

Today, the U.S. Copyright Office released the Copyright Registration Toolkit, a comprehensive resource designed to help creators, small business owners, advisors, and others navigate the copyright system. As part of the Copyright Office’s Copyright for All initiative, the toolkit is a visual breakdown of copyright, including essential information about copyright law, how to prepare for copyright registration, what to expect during the process, and post-registration considerations. 

“The Copyright Registration Toolkit makes copyright information more accessible and user-friendly for all creators,” said Associate Register of Copyrights and Director of Public Information and Education Miriam Lord. “Resources like this one empower authors, artists, musicians, and their advisors to protect and manage creative works with confidence.” 

Developed in conjunction with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's intellectual property (IP) toolkits for trademarks, trade secrets, and patents, these resources collectively provide a broad overview of IP protection under U.S. law. 

Copyright Office attorneys, writers, and designers collaborated on the toolkit to ensure it serves as a reliable and engaging reference for creators making business decisions about their creative works and for advisors who help guide them in understanding their rights as IP owners.  

To learn more, visit the landing page on Intellectual Property Toolkits. For further inquiries, the Public Information Office is available Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m. eastern time, to assist with questions about the copyright registration process. 

Copyright Office Releases Report on the Geography of Copyright Registrations

NewsNet 1053 

September 11, 2024

Today, the U.S. Copyright Office is releasing a report, The Geography of Copyright Registrations. The study examines the geographic distribution of copyright claims registered by individuals and organizations within the United States. The purpose of the report is to better understand where the copyright system is used and how patterns of registrations differ across areas within the country.

“Understanding these patterns of registration activity will help us better identity the socioeconomic factors that influence creative and innovative activity,” said Chief Economist Brent Lutes. “In this report, we identified whether registrations were filed by groups or individuals, looked at registrations at the state level and within more precise localities, and then analyzed the geographic distribution of registration for different types of works.”   

The report reveals:

• The majority of copyright registrations originate from a handful of large metropolitan areas. Approximately 40 percent of all copyright registrations originate from just five: New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Chicago.
• Within the United States, certain geographic areas specialize in different types of creative works. For example, registrants in the South register many copyrights for musical works, registrants in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states register many literary works, and registrants in California specialize in film and dramatic works.
• Some areas have a high volume of registrations simply because of their large populations. When controlling for population, numerous locations at the city level emerge where individuals, companies, or universities are registering high concentrations of creative works.

This report uses data from copyright claims registered between 2009 and 2022.  A forthcoming report will focus on the demographics of copyright registrations in the United States.

Copyright Office Releases Report on the COVID-19 Impact on Copyright-Reliant Industries

NewsNet 1042 
May 23, 2024

Today, the U.S. Copyright Office’s Office of the Chief Economist is releasing a report, The Resilience of Creativity: An Examination of the COVID-19 Impact on Copyright-Reliant Industries and Their Subsequent Recovery. The study examines the impact and subsequent recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of employment, revenues, and creative outputs in copyright-reliant industries. It uses data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census, and U.S. Copyright Office pertaining to eighteen industries that produce the types of works registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.

“We are excited to be issuing this new economic report examining the impact of COVID-19 on copyright communities,” said Associate Register of Copyrights and Director of Policy and International Affairs Maria Strong. “Since the arrival of Chief Economist Brent Lutes two years ago, we have hired two economists to build out our economic team, implementing a top strategic priority of Register Perlmutter and the Copyright Office. This team has a deep skillset in gathering, developing, and analyzing data, which has added a new dimension to our Office’s work.”

The report reveals

• As a whole, copyright-reliant industries experienced a substantial downturn resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the effect was decidedly smaller than that on the broader U.S. economy.
• Copyright-reliant industries, as a whole, recovered from the pandemic-induced downturn substantially quicker than the broader U.S. economy.
• The pandemic impact on employees was substantially larger than the impact on copyright-reliant firms' revenues (which is consistent with the experience of non-copyright reliant industries).
• The pandemic effects were significantly varied among industries.

Speaking about the report, Chief Economist Brent Lutes said, “Our data reveal a number of interesting stories of creative activities through the pandemic. These provide insights that generalize beyond the specific context of COVID-19. One encouraging, although perhaps not surprising, theme that comes from this work is just how resilient many of the of the copyright-reliant industries really are.”