U.S. Copyright Office Releases New Technology to Process Applications Online
"Handling about 550,000 copyright claims annually, the U.S. Copyright Office in the Library of Congress is making it much easier for the public to register and protect its collective creativity. On July 1, the Copyright Office will enter the next phase in the implementation of its multi-year business process re-engineering effort to modernize operations from a paper-based to a Web-based processing environment...

At the heart of the re-engineering initiative is a new online registration system named electronic Copyright Office (eCO), which the Office plans to release through a portal on its Web site on July 1. Filing an eService claim via eCO offers several advantages:

* lower filing fee of $35 for a basic claim;
* fastest processing time;
* earlier effective date of registration;
* online status tracking;
* secure payment by credit or debit card, electronic check or Copyright Office deposit account;
* and ability to upload certain categories of deposits directly into eCO as electronic files."