Picking the right copyright application and identifying what you are registering
Every Sunday night I make a cup of tea and plot out my week at the kitchen table. I pull out colorful pens and my trusty Little Ostu planner. I make sure my appointments in my planner match up with my electronic calendar and vice versa. I look at my client to-do list and my editorial calendar and block off time to tackle those items. Finally, I look at my goals for the month and figure out how I can move them forward that week. Sometimes things go as planned. Other times my plan falls flat.
This week, I foiled my own plan. My original plan required editing a video and registering a copyright in some content. Plus about 13 other things.
When the time came to register my copyright, I opened up Spotify put on some 90’s jams and started the process. While I was doing this, my brain jumped back to a webinar that Maria Brophy and I co-hosted.
Several people commented that their big takeaway was the importance of copyright registration.
Then it hit me, I know all these little tricks that make completing this application easier. And I bet that some of you would like to learn these tricks.
So rather than editing the video, I created a new one. And it gives you a behind-the-scenes peek at how I go about registering my copyrights.
After I did the first take I realized it was way too long for a single video, so I split it into three parts. Here we tackle selecting the right application and identifying what you are registering. The rest of this series covers:
- telling the Copyright Office who created it and who owns it, plus how to contact you
- paying the Copyright Office and uploading an electronic copy of your work
There have been some BIG changes to the eCO system since this video was recorded. There are now new options, different filing fees, and updated screens. For the latest, check out my Copyright Registration Course.
In 2014, the U.S. Copyright Office changed their fee structure. When they did, they split registrations into two buckets:
- A single work where the copyright is owned by the person who created it – $35 filing fee
- Everything else – $55 filing fee
In the video, I’m using the first bucket. Because of that, I don’t cover a couple things you’ll need to do if you use the second bucket. These include adding multiple titles, authors, and copyright owners. The U.S. Copyright Office has a powerpoint to help you walk through those steps. (I also cover some of these tricks in this step-by-step copyright registration course.)
You don’t need more information. You need a system.
If you’ve been trying to piece together your legal from blog posts and Google searches, it’s no wonder it feels overwhelming. Inside the artist’s Courtyard, you’ll find a clear, step-by-step system so you can move forward without the chaos.

I hope you picked up a couple tricks to make your next copyright registration run smoothly.
If you are scaling a creative business, you already know the legal side matters. The problem is finding the time to handle it properly, so it often gets pushed to the side.
When that happens, small details get missed and expectations are not as clear as they should be. Clients have questions. Boundaries get tested. And suddenly, you are spending time fixing issues that could have been handled up front.

I am Kiff, a legal strategist for creatives and a licensed attorney with 15+ years of experience helping photographers, designers, and illustrators protect and grow their businesses with clear contracts and client systems.
Each Friday, I send one focused, jargon-free legal task you can complete in 15 to 30 minutes. So you can reduce client friction, protect your work, and keep your business running smoothly without adding more to your plate.
Your privacy is important to us. Learn how we protect it here.

