July 31, 2022 Copyright Online Recordation System Opens for Public Use

First Public Module of New Enterprise Copyright System Replaces Paper Workflow

Press Contact: Kelley McNabb, kmcnabb@loc.gov; Nora Scheland, nscheland@copyright.gov
Public Contact: Copyright Public Information Office, (877) 476-0778 (toll free) or copyinfo@copyright.gov

Culminating over two years of software development and extensive user-experience testing, the Library of Congress and the United States Copyright Office have opened the new Copyright Recordation System of the Enterprise Copyright System, a new technology platform, for use by the general public.

“The Copyright Office is extremely pleased to open the new online recordation system to the public today,” said Denise Wofford, assistant register and director, Office of Copyright Records. “This is an important step in the Copyright Office’s Enterprise Copyright System modernization effort and will allow the processing of a major portion of transfers of copyright ownership or other documents pertaining to copyright to be processed more quickly; improving the time it takes to complete requests from the public. Our intention for this launch, is to continue to expand access to the copyright system to as many members of the public as possible.”

Replacing a paper-based, manual process, members of the public can now use the online self-service portal found at record.copyright.gov to remit information about the transfer of copyright ownership. The Copyright Office recorded nearly 12,000 documents containing titles of over 950,000 works via paper submissions and through an electronic recordation pilot in fiscal 2021. While the Copyright Office will continue to accept documents in paper form, the new application’s convenient online payment, status tracking and notification systems will result in easier submission and faster processing of records. Depending on the complexity of the submission document, the paper-based recordation process takes up to several months to complete. The new online process is expected to reduce average processing times for electronically submitted documents to several weeks. 

The Recordation System is the first of several modules of the Enterprise Copyright System, which is being developed in partnership between the Library Office of the Chief Information Officer and the Copyright Office. The new Enterprise Copyright System is a technology platform that will integrate and improve all of the Copyright Office’s technology systems, and provide a modern, friendly user interface for the public. In addition to recordation, the system will ultimately include applications that support the full range of public services offered by the Copyright Office, including registration, public records, and licensing, as well as internal Copyright Office functions.

“The Library of Congress has embraced a digital-forward strategy that harnesses technology to bridge geographical divides, expand our reach and enhance our services. We are seeing the return on that investment with the successful launch of the first major component of the new Enterprise Copyright System,” said Jim Karamanis, the Library’s director of IT design and development. “We’re proud of the strong partnership we have built for this effort. The combination of the Library’s seasoned development team, Copyright Office subject experts, and the latest in user-experience design practices guaranteed success and will continue to pay dividends for years to come as we continuously enhance the new system for the copyright community.”

The Copyright Office invited more than 150 organizations to participate in a limited pilot of the Recordation System over the last two years. Pilot participants successfully recorded over 8,600 documents using the new electronic system and provided in-depth feedback that helped refine the system for public use.

For more information about Copyright Recordation, and the new Recordation System, visit Copyright.gov/recordation.

The Copyright Office is the principal federal entity charged by statute with the administration of the U.S. copyright law. Among other statutory duties, the register oversees the copyright registration and recordation systems of the United States, manages statutory royalty fees totaling more than a billion dollars annually, advises Congress on domestic and international copyright policy issues and provides support on copyright matters to courts and executive branch agencies.  For more about the Copyright Modernization effort, visit copyright.gov/copyright-modernization.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov, access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.

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PR 22-068
2022-08-01
ISSN 0731-3527