In the event that the Office approves a withdrawal request, the Office will not refund the filing fee and will not return the deposit copy(ies). The Office will not reinstate an application once it has been withdrawn. If the applicant wishes to resubmit the claim, the applicant must file a new application, new deposit copy(ies), and the correct filing fee. The effective date of registration for a new claim will be based on the date that the new submission is received by the Office.
209 The Certificate of Registration and the Effective Date of Registration
If the applicant appears to meet the legal and formal requirements, the U.S. Copyright Office will register the claim. The Office will issue a certificate of registration which contains much of the information that the applicant provided in the application. In addition, the Office will create an online public record for the registration, which may be accessed through the Office’s online database. See 17 U.S.C. § 410(a).
Both the certificate and the online public record contain a registration number and an effective date of registration. The effective date of registration is the date on which the Office received an acceptable application, complete deposit copy(ies), and the proper filing fee. See 17 U.S.C. § 410(d). For detailed information on this topic, see Chapter 600, Section 625.
210 Registration Refused After Examination
The U.S. Copyright Office registers claims to copyright and issues certificates of registration only when an applicant appears to meet the legal and formal requirements.
If the Office finds that an applicant has not met the legal requirements for copyright registration, the Office will refuse to register the claim and will specify the reasons for its decision. The Office will notify the applicant by sending a written communication to the address provided in the Correspondent field/space of the application. For examples of situations in which the Office will refuse to register a claim because of a failure to meet the legal and/or formal requirements, see Chapter 600, Section 608.
An applicant may appeal a refusal to register a copyright claim. For more information on the appeals process, see Chapter 1700.
An applicant may institute a civil suit for copyright infringement even if the Office has refused to register a claim, provided that the applicant satisfies the requirements set forth in Section 411(a) of the Copyright Act. For information concerning this topic, see Chapter 1700, Section 1706.
