Skip to content
musicartistscoalition.7.staging.bubbleup.com

MAC is Following the US Copyright Office’s Proposed Rate Hike for Registrations

The Headline: MAC is following the USCO updated fee schedule proposal. After MAC and other advocacy groups sent a letter urging the USCO to revise the previously released proposed fee schedule. MAC will track the progress of the updated proposal and update our members as necessary.

The United States Copyright Office (USCO) officially presented and proposed an updated fee schedule with Congress for the registering of copyrights. Per Section 708(b) of the U.S. Copyright Act, the USCO can officially implement the new fees 120 days after submission, unless Congress intervenes by disapproving the schedule. The approximate effective date is somewhere in mid-November of this year if Congress does not have any reservations to the proposed hike. (See additional source: https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2026/08/28/us-copyright-fees-rising-2026/?mc_cid=6b7a767529&mc_eid=ecc460b5b7)

It is worth noting that the proposed hike that the USCO ultimately sent to Congress was much amended from the initially announced proposed hike. (See additional source: https://www.hypebot.com/us-copyright-office-proposes-massive-fee-hike-what-it-means/). On July 14, 2026, the USCO proposed the following changes:

  • Eliminating the Single Application (i.e., 1 work & 1 author):
    • Currently $45
    • Replaced by the Standard Application (89% increase)
  • Standard Electronic Application:
    • Currently $65
    • Proposed hike to $85 (31% increase)
  • Group Registration for Works on an Album of Music (GRAM):
    • Currently $65
    • Proposed hike to $85 (31% increase)
  • Paper Filings:
    • Currently $125
    • Proposed hike to $200+

After the USCO released their overambitious proposal, MAC joined The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), the Artist Rights Alliance, Music Managers Forum-US (MMF-US), the Recording Academy, the Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL), Songwriters of North America (SONA), the Songwriters Guild of America (SGA), the American Federation of Musicians, and Future of Music Coalition, released a letter urging the USCO to rethink the proposal and release an updated fee schedule, while they have kept several of the figures in line with the prior proposal. The USCO walked back on the potential elimination of single applications and instead proposed a $10 hike from $45 to $55. (See additional source: https://interspacemusic.com/blog/us-2026-fee-increase-music-sound-recordings-double/)

MAC will follow along and alert our members to imminent changes as necessary.