Copyright Office Establishes Accommodation for Applicants Affected by Electronic Copyright System Outage

The Register of Copyrights today issued a declaration pursuant to her authority to adjust certain registration timing provisions in the event of a disruption to a Copyright Office electronic system. Beginning on August 12, 2021, at 5 p.m., ET and continuing until August 17, 2021, at 6:20 p.m., ET, the Office’s Electronic Copyright System (eCO) was unavailable to the public due to a technical upgrade. Persons attempting to submit copyright registration applications, fees, deposits, and/or other material via eCO during that period were unable to do so. The Register therefore is exercising her authority to adjust the effective date of registration assigned to registration claims affected by the disruption. Affected parties may request an adjustment to their effective date of registration by following the instructions on the Office’s website.