eCO walkthrough: group photo registration, screen by screen
A plain walkthrough of the eCO application for a group of photos, built from the Office's help pages. It shows where each value goes. The author, claimant and publication answers are yours.
- Start the application. Sign in at eco.copyright.gov. Under Copyright Registration choose "Register a Group of Photographs", then for Type of Group choose "Published Photographs" or "Unpublished Photographs" (Circular 42). Read and confirm the eligibility statements on screen.
- Copy the case number. It appears at the top of every screen as "Case #" (GRPPH help). You need it for the titles list file name.
- Titles screen: title of the group. "You must provide a title for the group as a whole", in the space marked "Title of Group". The same title goes in the list's file name.
- Titles screen: number of photographs. Pick the total from the "Number of Photographs in Group" drop down, 1 to 750.
- Titles screen: each photo's title. The Office strongly encourages this, so titles appear on the certificate and public record (Circular 42). Click "New", paste titles with their commas from the template's "List of All Group Titles" column, choose how many you entered and click "Save". The field holds up to 1,995 characters. For published photos, each entry covers photos published in one month (GRPPH help).
- Year of completion. "The year in which the author shot the most recent photograph in the group" (GRPPH help).
- Publication (published groups only). Earliest and latest publication dates in the group, entered like 2/1/2018, and the nation of first publication. "If you are not sure where the photos were published you may select Not Known" (GRPPH help).
- Author, claimant, rights and permissions, correspondent. Follow the help text on each screen. These are your answers; we do not prepare them.
- Certification. Certify the application and enter the titles list file name "in the space provided on the certification screen" (Circular 42).
- Pay. Add to cart and pay the filing fee: $55 when we checked on 21 October 2026 (fees).
- Upload. After payment, select and upload your files. The Office "strongly encourages you to combine the photos and the title list in a .zip file", and each file must be 500 MB or less (GRPPH help, eCO FAQ). Then complete the submission.
The Office also has a preview of the published photos application and video tutorials.
Register My Photos gives you these values for each claim, ready to copy: the group title, number of photos, title entries under 1,995 characters (one set per month for published photos), year of completion, earliest and latest dates and the list file name.
Questions
Do I upload the photos before or after paying?
After. In eCO you complete the application, pay, and then upload your files.
What if my titles are longer than 1,995 characters?
The GRPPH help says the field holds up to 1,995 characters. Save, then click New to add another entry with the remaining titles.
What is the year of completion for a group?
The GRPPH help says it is the year in which the author shot the most recent photograph in the group.
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.