Copyright Office Fee Study—2026
NOTE: Comments open on March 20, 2026
The Copyright Office is publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking requesting public comment on proposed changes to its fee schedule. Congress authorized the Register of Copyrights to set and adjust fees to cover the reasonable costs of the Office’s services, along with an inflation adjustment to reflect expected increases.
The Office reviews and adjusts its fees every several years. The last fee adjustment was in 2020 and was based on a study of costs from fiscal years 2016 and 2017. Since then, the cost of providing services has increased significantly because of inflation and other factors. The Office began internal work on this fee study in 2023 with a study of these costs.
The Office is proposing the adjusted fee schedule described in the notice of proposed rulemaking. The proposed fees would allow the Office to recover a portion of its costs closer to the historical level of about 60 percent, while still keeping services accessible.
The comment period begins on March 20, 2026. Written comments must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. eastern time on May 4, 2026.