On March 24, 2014, the U.S. Copyright Office issued a Final Rule that establishes new fees for certain of its services.  The new fee schedule is effective as of May 1, 2014 and available here.  The fees were last updated in 2009.

The Office increased fees for certain registration and recordation and associated services, as well as search and review services for FOIA requests.  The Office reduced renewal application and addendum fees in an effort to “encourage the filing of more renewal claims” and thereby help improve the public record about copyright ownership.

According to the Copyright Office’s announcement, the fee increases result from its “responsibility, like other Federal agencies, to establish sound financial policies and develop a budget derived largely from fees” and enable it to “recover a significant part of the costs to the Office for services that benefit both copyright owners and the public.”

(And, while on the subject of copyright, if your website accepts and hosts user-generated content, we encourage you to check that you have registered a “DMCA agent” under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).  The DMCA is a federal law that provides “safe harbor” protection for claims of copyright infringement for website operators that follow certain procedures, including designating a DMCA agent.)