Following in the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s footsteps, the Library of Congress is at last beta testing a new online filing system called the electronic Copyright Office (eCO). It’s too soon to tell what impact this will have on volume or speed of registrations, but the system will allow registrations for a slightly reduced fee ($35), provide same day receipt, and perhaps reduce the number of unregistered works in the United States.

Increasing the number of registered works in the United States could have an enormous impact on small-scale content producers, who generally do not register their works until after an infringement occurs. However, waiting until after an infringement occurs to register copyright robs many artists, programmers and authors of their best remedies against infringers–the ability to obtain statutory damages and attorneys fees.

Current U.S. law permits a plaintiff to file a copyright infringement suit only after a certificate of registration has been issued by the Copyright Office. So, an increase in registrations and the ease in obtaining them could provide some small benefit to the little guy.

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