Technical Amendments Regarding Electronic Submissions to the Copyright Office

To facilitate the public’s ability to access Copyright Office services during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office has issued a final rule to provide greater flexibility in how certain materials may be submitted to the Office. The rule amends Office regulations to permit electronic submissions in connection with various services for which physical deliveries were previously required. The updates pertain to the following services: (1) submitting notices of termination for recordation, (2) requests for removal of personally identifiable information from the online public catalog or other public records, (3) cancellation of completed registrations, (4) filing of satellite carrier statements of account, (5) recordation of certain contracts by cable systems located outside of the forty-eight contiguous states, (6) filing of statements of account for digital audio recording devices or media, (7) filing of a Notice of Intent to Enforce a Restored Copyright, (8) filing of a Notice to Libraries and Archives of Normal Commercial Exploitation or Availability at Reasonable Price, (9) group registration of automated databases, (10) requests for reconsideration for refusals to register, (11) supplementary registrations for restored works, non-photographic databases, and renewal registrations, (12) registration of restored copyrights, (13) renewal registrations, and (14) requests for full-term retention of copyright deposits.

Information about current electronic submission options is available on the Office’s website at https://www.copyright.gov/coronavirus/filing-options/, and additional options will be posted on that page as they become available. More information about Copyright Office operations during the COVID-19 pandemic is available at https://www.copyright.gov/coronavirus/.