How to register photos with the US Copyright Office, step by step

Before you start. This is general information taken from copyright.gov, not legal advice. Fees can change: check copyright.gov/about/fees.html on the day you file. The Office has proposed new fees, explained in Copyright Office fee increase 2026.

What every registration needs

Whatever option you choose, the Office asks for the same basic parts. For a group of photos, Circular 42 lists them as "(1) a completed application form; (2) a nonrefundable filing fee; (3) a digital copy of each photograph; and (4) a list providing the title and file name assigned to each photograph" (Circular 42). A single photo needs the first three: an application, the fee and a copy of the photo. Registration of one work is covered in Circular 2.

The Office's general rule is "to submit one application, filing fee, and deposit for each work you want to register", and the group options are the exception it created for photographers (Circular 42).

Step 1: choose the right application

The Office's registering photographs page lists these options for photos. Fees are from the fees page, checked 24 October 2026.

Option	What it covers	Fee today
Single Application	One photo. The fees page describes it as "Single author, same claimant, one work, not for hire". The Office says it is "for individuals who want to register one photograph".	$45
Standard Application	One photo, "for individuals, companies, and organizations that want to register one photograph", including cases the Single Application does not cover.	$65
Group of published photographs (GRPPH)	Up to 750 published photos by the same author, same claimant, all published in the same calendar year.	$55
Group of unpublished photographs (GRUPH)	Up to 750 unpublished photos by the same author, same claimant.	$55

For most working photographers with more than a couple of photos, a group claim costs less per photo: $55 covers up to 750 photos, while the Single and Standard Applications cover one photo each. If you only have one photo to register, the Single or Standard Application may be simpler. Which option fits your photos is your decision; the Office's help text on each application lists the conditions.

The Office also lists less common options, such as group registration of contributions to periodicals and photographic databases. Circular 42 describes when each may be useful.

Step 2: sort your photos

If you are using a group option, sort your photos into claims before you open eCO. The Office's conditions for both groups are that every work is a photograph, there are no more than 750 photos, all are by the same author and the claimant is the same person or organization (GRPPH help, GRUPH help).

• Published and unpublished photos go in separate claims. Circular 42 says: "A group registration may not contain both published and unpublished photographs."
• Published photos need one claim per calendar year. The GRPPH help says the option "cannot be used to register photographs that were published in different calendar years".
• 750 photos is the limit per claim. More than that means more than one claim (750 photo limit).

Whether a photo is published is your call, and we never make it for you. The Office explains publication in Circular 42 and Compendium chapter 1900; our guide Published or unpublished? quotes them.

Step 3: check your files

For group claims the Office says: "The photographs must be in one of the following formats: JPEG, GIF, or TIFF" (GRPPH help). Each upload must be 500 MB or less (eCO FAQ), so a large group may need several zip files. Keep your file names exactly as they will appear in your titles list. For HEIC, RAW, PNG and the full eCO list, see acceptable file types for photos.

Step 4: start the application in eCO

Sign in or create an account at eco.copyright.gov. For one photo, choose the Standard Application or the Single Application. For a group, choose "Register a Group of Photographs", then "Published Photographs" or "Unpublished Photographs". Circular 42 warns: "If you select the wrong option, you will need to start over." Note the case number shown at the top of the screen; group claims use it in the titles list file name (file name builder).

Step 5: prepare the titles list (group claims)

Group claims need a list giving the title and file name of each photo, on the Office's own template. Published groups also give the month and year each photo was published. Our guides cover the GRPPH template and the GRUPH template column by column.

Step 6: fill in the application

The screens ask for titles, the year of completion, publication details if the photos are published, the author, the claimant, a correspondent and a certification. The help text on each screen explains each field. Author and claimant answers are yours to give; if photos were made for hire, the Office's Circular 30 explains what that means. For a group, our eCO walkthrough goes screen by screen.

Step 7: pay the fee and upload

Add the claim to your cart and pay the filing fee in eCO. You upload the photos after paying. For group claims, the Office "strongly encourages you to combine the photos and the title list in a .zip file" (GRPPH help).

After you submit

The Office examines the claim and may write to you with questions. Its processing times page measures time "from the time the Office receives an appropriate application, the correct filing fee, and a deposit" (Registration Processing Times). For cases closed 1 April to 30 September 2026, online claims with an uploaded deposit and no correspondence took "average 3.4 months" (checked 24 October 2026). Your effective date of registration is set when the Office has everything, not when it decides; see how long copyright registration takes.

A note on the proposed fees

The Office has proposed raising the group photo fee from $55 to $85, the Single Application from $45 to $55 and the Standard Application from $65 to $85. These are proposals. No start date had been published when we checked on 24 October 2026. See the fee increase guide and Before the proposed fee rise.

Questions

Sources

• Photographs, copyright.gov (checked 24 October 2026)
• Fees, copyright.gov (checked 24 October 2026)
• Circular 42: Copyright Registration of Photographs (checked 24 October 2026)
• Circular 2: Copyright Registration
• GRPPH help (checked 24 October 2026)
• GRUPH help (checked 24 October 2026)
• eCO FAQ
• Circular 30: Works Made for Hire
• Registration Processing Times (checked 24 October 2026)