Copyright Office Expands Electronic Submission Options
Issue No. 814 - April 7, 2020
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Copyright Office is expanding its capabilities to receive electronic submissions for Office services. While many of the Office’s services, including applications for copyright registration submitted through the electronic Copyright Office (“eCO”) system, are already largely digital, for other services the applicable regulations or practices allowed submission of materials by physical delivery only. To assist persons who may be unable to send physical mail during the national emergency, the Office is now permitting submissions by email for certain services, including filing notices of termination for recordation, requests for reconsideration of refusals to register, and requests for removal of personally identifiable information from the public record. To facilitate those efforts, the Office today has published a final rule to facilitate electronic submission for additional Office services as administrative processes are established.
The Office has provided a list of current physical and electronic submission options for various services, including the new options implemented in response to the national emergency, on its website. This page will be updated as electronic options are introduced or modified.
The Copyright Office Public Information Office is available for questions through our website at copyright.gov/help/ or at (202) 707-3000 or 1-877-476-0778 (toll free).
For more information on COVID-19 generally, please visit: coronavirus.gov, CDC.gov/coronavirus, and USA.gov/coronavirus.