New Copyright Registration Rules

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) announced that “the U.S. Copyright Office has issued a new copyright registration rule that will allow authors to register up to fifty short textual works published online for a single flat fee.”

SFWA worked with the National Writers Union, Horror Writers Association, and American Society of Journalists and Authors to request this change starting in January 2017. The new rule will take effect on August 17, 2020, and applies to short textual online works “between fifty and 17,500 words in length” which have been “published in the same 90-day period” and are “written by the same single author or collaboration.” A $65 flat fee will cover the registration of up to 50 individual qualifying works.

Going forward, SFWA plans to “press for a consolidation of the several types of group registration now available, including for works published in periodicals and unpublished works, as well as short works published in physical collections, anthologies, and the like which do not appear online.”

They also note that the US Copyright Office is separately reconsidering the definition of internet “publication.” “SFWA and many other author groups have recommended that any material appearing on the Internet should be considered published,” but the Office has not yet reached a decision on this matter.

For more information, see the SFWA website.

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site paywall free, but WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT to continue quality coverage of the science fiction and fantasy field.