As most of you know, the cost of registering material with the U.S. Copyright Office has been $20 per registration. That cost is going up this month, to $30 effective July 1, 1999. Only a single fee will still be due for group registrations of work, which can be boxes of images so long as they are unpublished. There is no limit to the amount of material submitted provided it is related.

For ease of registration, and of keeping track of the images, it is suggested that the grouping be arranged in some logical sequence. These could be, for example, arranged by assignments or jobs, or grouped by subject matter, or by images created each month, or anything else that makes sense to you.

Previously published images, of course, must still be separately registered, with two deposit copies of the images filed along with the registration certificate and fee.

The reason for the increase is the desire of some members of Congress to place the Copyright Office on a more pay as-you-go footing, which would, accordingly, result in a decrease in funding, and thereby a reduction in the national budget.

The benefits of registration are, and have always been, significant, especially when your copyright is infringed. Therefore, you should not let the increased cost deter you from continuing (or beginning) to use the registration process to your full advantage. It can only be of benefit to you in the long run.

Initially, the increased filing fee was proposed at $45. However, comments submitted in response to the proposed increase indicated that many individual copyright owners, including photographers, graphic artists and songwriters, would be unable to register if the fee increase was so large, which would, in turn, undermine the intent of the Copyright Act which is to provide an effective remedy against copyright infringement.

Your voices were indeed heard, confirming the fact that participation can make a difference!