Despite the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 wreaking havoc across the world, the intellectual property system of the United States marches on. That includes the increase of new fees at the Library of Congress’ Copyright Office.

Remember, it is important to register copyrights in the Library of Congress’ Copyright Office. A party claiming copyright infringement needs to have a copyright registration before pleading copyright infringement in federal court. A party whose copyright is infringed before the registration is granted by the Library of Congress will not be entitled to attorneys’ fees or statutory damages. A party must register a copyright before infringement in order to be entitled to those damages.

Notice the huge uptick in fees in database entries.

Type of FilingCurrent FeesNew Fees
Registration, recordation, and related services: Basic registrations
Registration of a claim in an original work of authorship:
Electronic filing:
Single author, same claimant, one work, not for hire$35$45
All other filings$55$65
Paper Filing (Forms PA, SR, TX, VA, SE)$85$125
Registration, recordation, and related services: Group RegistrationsCurrent FeesNew Fees
Registration of a claim in a group of contributions to periodicals$85$85
Registration of updates or revisions to a database that predominantly consists of non-photographic works$85$500
Registration of a claim in a group of published photographs or a claim in a group of unpublished photographs$55$55
Registration for a database that predominantly consists of photographs and updates and revisions thereto:
Electronic filing$55$250
Paper filing$65$250
Registration of a claim in a group of serials (per issue, minimum two issues)
Electronic filing$25$35
Paper filing$25$70
Registration of a claim in a group of newspapers or a group of newsletters$80$95
Registration of a claim in a group of unpublished works$55$85