Copyright Office Will Increase Photo Registration Cost by 55% in 120 Days

The United States Copyright Office notified Congress today that it will move forward with its plan to increase group registration of photographs from $55 to $85 in 120 days, unless it intervenes.

In March, the Office issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) where it suggested substantial increases to its fees, including increases of more than 50% for group registration of photographs and approximately 268% for updates to news websites.

The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) urged the Office to reconsider the changes as they resulted in untenable cost increases for its members. The NPPA asserts that the method by which the Office calculates the effects of its fees is flawed and has encouraged it to engage with photographers directly to better understand how they actually behave in the real world, not just on paper.

It does not appear that those pleas have been heard. In the letter to Congress today, Shira Permutter, Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, says it plans to move forward with its fee increases.

This is the first change to the Office’s fees since 2020. It would permit us to achieve fee recovery of an amount closer to the historical percentage of our operational budget, incorporating a reasonable inflation adjustment. To maintain fiscally responsible operations at a level commensurate with stakeholder demand, and because copyright registration and recordation are voluntary under U.S. law, the Office sought to set fees that allow us to maintain quality services while continuing to encourage active participation in the copyright system.

By law, the Register of Copyrights may institute the new fees 120 days after the proposed schedule is submitted to Congress unless Congress enacts a law within that time period stating that it does not approve the schedule. The Office seeks to implement these new fees in the fall of 2026.

“This is deeply disappointing,” Alicia Calzada, Deputy General Counsel of the National Press Photographers Association, tells PetaPixel. “Many photographers already find the process too expensive, archaic, and complicated as the National Press Photographers Association noted in its comments to the Copyright Office during the fee study process earlier this year. Yet the Office continues to delay modernization and is forcing photographers to bear the burden of inefficiency.”

“Copyright law is supposed to protect photographers from infringers, but who will protect us from the copyright bureaucrats? We call upon our elected officials to pass legislation that will end these copyright fee increases that are becoming a tax on the creative process,” Alex Garcia, the National Press Photographers Association president, who is also a freelance photographer, adds.

Only Congress can order the Office to change its planned fee increases now. Without intervention, these changes will go into effect in 120 days.

Image creditsElements of header photo licensed via Depositphotos.com.