Copyright Registration Package

KLF Legal offers a flat-fee package to prepare and file a copyright registration with the United States Copyright Office. The fee is $395 and is set before the firm is retained. A free initial telephone consultation is available if you are not sure whether registration is the right next step.

 

Copyright exists when an original work is fixed in a tangible form. Registration is a separate filing with the Copyright Office. For most U.S. works, registration is required before you can file an infringement lawsuit, and timely registration can make statutory damages and attorney’s fees available. The public record also shows who claims ownership.

What the $395 package includes​

• Attorney review of the work and the ownership facts before filing

• Preparation and electronic filing of a standard copyright application

• The Copyright Office filing fee

• Preparation and submission of the required deposit with the Library of Congress

• A copy of the filing and the case number

 

The package covers one application for one work, or one work that fits a standard single-application form. Group registrations, published collections, and applications that require a paper filing or special handling are quoted separately.

What is not included

This package covers preparation and filing. It does not include a response to a Copyright Office refusal or correspondence that requires substantial additional work, an infringement lawsuit, a DMCA notice, a license or assignment, or enforcement against another party. Those are quoted after the facts are reviewed.

Registration is not a guarantee that the Copyright Office will issue a certificate, and it is not a guarantee that a court will find the work original or that you own it. The firm will tell you before filing if the facts raise an ownership or authorship problem.

What we need from you

• A copy of the work, or a representative deposit if the work is large

• The title, the year of creation, and the date and nation of first publication, if it has been published

• The author’s name and whether the work was made as a work made for hire

• Who owns the copyright now, and any assignment or work-for-hire agreement that shows it

• Whether anyone else contributed material that is in the work

 

Incomplete ownership facts are the most common reason a registration is refused or is less useful later. If the work was created by an employee, a contractor, or more than one person, send the agreement before the application is filed.

When to register

Register before the work is published, or as soon as possible after publication. For many works, registration within three months of first publication, or before infringement begins, preserves the ability to seek statutory damages and attorney’s fees in a later case. Waiting does not destroy the copyright. It can limit the remedies.

How to start

Send the title, a short description of the work, and whether it has been published. The first conversation is a free telephone consultation. The package fee is confirmed before the firm is retained.

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For trademark filing packages, see Trademark Application Packages.

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