Copyright Office Establishes Accommodation for Applicants Affected by Electronic Copyright System Outage (Updated)

The Register of Copyrights today issued a further 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 5:00 p.m. eastern time, the Office’s electronic registration 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 after that time were unable to do so. On August 17, 2021, the Register issued a declaration that a disruption of a Copyright Office electronic system had occurred.

The disruption was believed to have been resolved as of that time, but due to subsequent technological issues, the Register issued a revised declaration on August 18, 2021, that the disruption was ongoing. The Register has determined that the disruption has been resolved as of August 29, 2021, at 6:00 a.m. eastern time, and therefore she 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.