Guides

Before the proposed fee rise: registering your photos at $55

When we checked copyright.gov on 22 October 2026, the fee for a group registration of published or unpublished photographs (up to 750 photos) was $55. The Office has proposed raising it to $85 and says it seeks to bring the new fees in during fall 2026. It has not published a start date.

Checked against copyright.gov on 22 October 2026. General information, not legal advice. Register My Photos is not affiliated with the US Copyright Office.

Check before you file. Fees can change at short notice. Look at copyright.gov/about/fees.html on the day you file; it lists the fee you will pay in eCO.

What the Office has said (checked 22 October 2026)

  • The fee today. The Office's fees page lists: "Registration of a claim in a group of published photographs or a claim in a group of unpublished photographs $55" (Fees, checked 22 October 2026).
  • The proposed fee. The proposed schedule the Office sent to Congress on 14 July 2026 lists the "Fee for registration of a claim in a group of published photographs or a group of unpublished photographs (up to 750 published or unpublished photographs) to increase from $55 to $85" (Proposed Schedule and Analysis of Copyright Fees, checked 22 October 2026).
  • The timing. In the same document the Register of Copyrights writes: "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." The Office's NewsNet of 14 July 2026 says the same (checked 22 October 2026).
  • Where it stands. The Fee Study 2026 page says: "Congress has 120 days in which to respond to the Office's proposal with legislation disapproving it" (checked 22 October 2026).
  • The earlier proposal. The Office first proposed $85 in a notice of proposed rulemaking on 20 March 2026 (Federal Register 2026-05529). When we searched the Federal Register on 22 October 2026, we found no later Copyright Office notice or rule setting a start date for the new fees.

For every proposed fee that affects photographers, not just the group fee, see Copyright Office fee increase 2026.

Is the rise on 11 November?

The Office has not said so. Counting 120 days from 14 July 2026 gives about 11 November 2026, and the law lets the Office start new fees once that period has passed, unless Congress acts. The Office's own words are only that it "seeks to implement these new fees in the fall of 2026". The new fee could start after 11 November, and no date had been published when we checked on 22 October 2026. We will update this page when the Office announces one.

What the $55 covers

  • One group claim of up to 750 photographs, filed online in eCO (GRPPH help, GRUPH help).
  • All the photos by the same author, with the same claimant. Published photos must all be published in the same calendar year.
  • Published and unpublished photos go in separate claims, and each claim pays its own fee. More than 750 photos, or published photos from two years, means more than one claim (750 photo limit).
  • The fee is paid to the Office in eCO. It is not part of any price you pay us.

What to prepare

  1. Sort your photos into claims. Published or unpublished is your decision; our guide Published or unpublished? quotes what the Office says.
  2. Check the file types. JPEG, GIF or TIFF only (GRPPH help).
  3. Fill in the titles list. The Office's own template: number, title, file name and, for published photos, month and year of publication (GRPPH template, GRUPH template).
  4. Name the list with the group title and case number. You get the case number when you start the eCO application (file name builder).
  5. Zip the photos and the list. Each upload must be 500 MB or less (eCO FAQ).
  6. Have an eCO account and a way to pay the Office's fee in eCO.

The eCO walkthrough goes through the application screen by screen, and the free checker shows which of your photos would cause problems before you start.

How long it takes

Preparing a claim takes as long as sorting your photos and filling in the titles list; the eCO application itself is a short series of screens. After you submit, the Office decides on the claim. Its processing times page reports that online claims with an uploaded deposit that need no correspondence took "average 3.4 months (but claims can range from 1.2 months to 5.5 months)", and claims with correspondence "average 5.3 months", for cases closed 1 April to 30 September 2026 (Registration Processing Times, checked 22 October 2026). The Office measures these "from the time the Office receives an appropriate application, the correct filing fee, and a deposit". For your effective date and what slows a claim down, see how long copyright registration takes.

Register My Photos can help prepare the files for each claim: the filled in titles list, matching file names and zips under 500 MB.

Last checked 22 October 2026. Whether and when to register is your decision.

Questions

Has the group photo fee gone up yet?

Not when we checked on 22 October 2026. The Copyright Office fees page listed $55 for a group of published or unpublished photographs. Check copyright.gov/about/fees.html before you file.

How much is the proposed fee?

$85 per claim for GRPPH and GRUPH, in the proposed schedule the Office sent to Congress on 14 July 2026.

When will the new fee start?

The Office has not published a start date. It says it may institute the new fees 120 days after 14 July 2026 unless Congress disapproves, and that it seeks to implement them in fall 2026. 120 days runs to about 11 November 2026 by our count, but that is not an announced date.

How many photos does one fee cover?

Up to 750 photographs in one group claim, according to the Office's GRPPH and GRUPH help pages.

Sources

Skip the spreadsheet

Register My Photos fills in the Office's own titles list, names it with your group title and case number, checks file types and dates, splits claims at 750 photos and makes zips under 500 MB. It runs in your browser and your photos never leave your device.

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