Copyright Office Practices. See 17 U.S.C. § 410(a). For detailed information on this process, see Chapter 600.
207 Special Handling
Special handling is a procedure for expediting the examination of an application to register a claim to copyright. There is an additional fee for this expedited service. See www.copyright.gov/docs/fees.html.
The U.S. Copyright Office offers this service in certain circumstances where a copyright owner or other interested parties have a compelling reason for an expedited decision on a pending application. Special handling may be requested for an online application or a paper application in the following circumstances:
- Pending or prospective litigation;
- Customs matters; or
- Contract or publishing deadlines that necessitate the expedited issuance of a certificate of registration.
Once it has received and approved a request for special handling, the Office will make every attempt to process the application within five business days, although the Office cannot guarantee that it will process all special handling applications within that time frame, particularly if the claims present issues requiring correspondence.
For detailed information on special handling see Chapter 600, Section 623.
208 Withdrawing an Application
An applicant may submit a request to withdraw a pending application at any time before the U.S. Copyright Office has issued a certificate of registration or has refused to register the claim. The request should be made in writing, it should explain why the applicant is seeking to withdraw the claim, and it should be sent to the following address:
Associate Register of Copyrights and
Director of Registration Policy and Practice
Registration Program
U.S. Copyright Office
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20559
The Office will use its discretion to decide whether to approve or deny a timely withdrawal request. In making this decision, the Office will balance the interest of the applicant with the public interest in maintaining the integrity of the registration record. The Office does not routinely grant withdrawals, particularly where the request is made merely to avoid a refusal to register.
