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Procedure for Copyright Registration of Multiple Unpublished Works

The United States Copyright Office has implemented a new procedure for registration of multiple unpublished works. Registrants are no longer allowed to submit multiple unpublished works for registration under the Standard application or paper form. Instead, registrants will be required to use the new online application for a “Group of Unpublished Works” (“GRUW”).

When and how will this affect registrants?

Effective as March 15, 2019, the United States Copyright Office no longer accepts registration of multiple unpublished works with the Standard application or paper form. Registrants will instead be required to use the new online GRUW application form. To use the GRUW application form, all of the following criteria must be met:

  1. All of the works are unpublished
  2. All of the works must be of the same administrative class
  3. No more than ten (10) works may be submitted under one application
  4. A title for each work in the group must be provided
  5. All works are created by the same author or joint authors
  6. The author and claimant information for each work must be the same person or organization
  7. The authorship statement for each author or joint author must be exactly the same
  8. Works must be uploaded in an acceptable file format

Note: the GRUW online application may not be used to register claims in the selection, coordination, or arrangement of the group as a whole, compilations, collective works, databases, or websites. Furthermore, this rule does not replace the procedure for registering unpublished photographs. Up to 750 photos may still be registered with one application and one filing fee using the group registration option for photographs.

Why is the United States Copyright Office enforcing this new regulation?

The Copyright Office has stated that this rule change will offer a number of benefits over the current registration process. Specifically, the Copyright Office has indicated that this rule change will allow the Copyright Office to more easily examine each work for copyrightable authorship, create a more robust record of the claim, and improve the overall efficiency of the registration process.

Accordingly, if you are a potential registrant with the United States Copyright Office, please refer to our firm, the Wang IP Law Group, P.C., as we specialize in these cases. It is crucial to recognize this rule change because this change could affect whether or not your copyright registration is approved by the Copyright Office.

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Wang IP Law Group, P.C. is a Los Angeles based full service legal firm that specializes in intellectual property law (patent, trademark, copyright, and licensing agreement), business and commercial litigation, and a wide range of other legal matters including immigration, real estate, and landlord/tenant cases. Our multilingual attorneys represent clients from all over California and internationally from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and Israel.

If you have questions or would like a consultation in regards to the content of this publication, please contact us by calling 888-827-8880 or email us at [email protected]. For more information about the firm and the services please visit www.TheWangIPLaw.com.