Electronic Copyright Registration - Early Impressions

As I mentioned some time back, I am in the beta test group for the new online copyright registration pilot program. Here are some early impressions:

• The user interface is clunky. There are different sections in a copyright registration and you need to proceed through them all to register - reasonably enough. You can also save at any point, which is good. However, when you've saved, you don't get returned to the last section you were working on when you open the application; you get dumped to the end and have to go back, section by section, to where you were.


• There are things you pick up from trying to register that would be nice to know at the start. For example, you can at times get dumped out of an application - not unusual, as this is beta software, so you can't expect it to be ready to go. But I found out by accident that where you were gets saved in a category of Working applications. That is separate from Open applications, which means you've done what you need to do and are waiting to hear back.


• You can deposit electronic versions of documents. I think this is one of the most exciting features. I recently registered my web site and blogs - went onto each page and saved it into PDF form, did the application, and then uploaded the files. I had a hard time from my home machine, as we're far enough in the boondocks that we can't get cable or phone broadband. So the upload kept timing out. However, when I took the files to a wireless hotspot, they were up in a couple of minutes and I had a completed application.


• Online payment is easy - credit card using a federal government secured system, or an account that you can establish with the Copyright Office. Plus, the fee is only $35 for online registration, instead of $45. That may change, as it might be an enticement to be a guinea pig. But, hey, I'm happy with saving $10 a shot.


• Unfortunately, group registrations are not yet available, as they're working the kinks out. So if you have a number of previously published articles, you'll have to go the paper route.


• When things are running normally, they expect you to know that the registration is done (although you won't have the certificate at that point) within one to two weeks.

All in all, the system has some bugs, but a great deal of promise, and I've found myself more easily registering materials, both the web site and blogs as well as a number of unpublished plays that I put into a collection.

An added bonus that I just though of is that the Working applications stick around until you're done with them. So, when group registration becomes available, you should be able to enter information for published clips bit at a time, upload a PDF of the web site, and then close out the registration at the end of a quarter, pay your fee, and have everything set. This should make ongoing protection of your intellectual property a whole lot easier.