Discontinuance of Form CO in Registration Practices

The Copyright Office has amended its regulations to: (1) discontinue use of the Form CO application as an option for applying for copyright registrations; and (2) remove the references to CON 1 and CON 2 sheets. Effective July 1, 2012 the Copyright Office will no longer accept applications on Form CO. 


Form CO applications comprised only a small percentage of all applications submitted but contain a significant number of errors, thus requiring a disproportionate amount of the Office’s time, effort and resources to process. Applicants now have a choice to file an application for registration using either the Copyright Office’s electronic filing system for certain works or the specific forms that relate to the subject matter of the application (i.e., Form TX for nondramatic literary works, Form PA for works of the performing arts, Form VA for works of visual art, Form SR for sound recordings, and Form SE for serials). The removal of the references to CON 1 and CON 2 sheets, which were never prepared or made available to the public, conforms Copyright Office regulations to actual Copyright Office practices.


Upon receipt of a Form CO on or after July 1, 2012, the Office will notify the remitter that it has received an incomplete submission for registration and that the remitter may complete the submission by providing a completed "Form TX," "Form PA," "Form VA," "Form SR," "Form SE," or the short form versions of Forms TX, PA, VA or SE as appropriate, along with any applicable short fee. The effective date of registration for the claim will be the date the Office receives a complete submission, including an acceptable form, the appropriate fee and the deposit. Should the remitter fail to provide the correct form and additional fee within 30 days, the Office will close the claim and retain the initial fee to cover the administrative costs of processing the incomplete submission.


See the Notice of the final rule discontinuing the use of Form CO http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2012/77fr18705.pdf for further information.