This circular is an introduction to the U.S. Copyright Office's group registration accommodation for newspapers. It covers

1. Eligibility Requirements
2. Registration Procedure
3. Deposit Requirements

1

While the general rule for registration is to submit one application, filing fee, and deposit for each work you want to register, the U.S. Copyright Office has established a group registration option for registering multiple issues of a newspaper. Newspapers are considered periodicals for purposes of registration, meaning that they are intended to be issued on an established schedule in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations that are intended to be continued indefinitely.

For the purpose of group registration, a newspaper is a periodical that is mainly designed to be a primary source of written information on current events, either local, national, or international in scope. A newspaper contains a broad range of news on all subjects and activities and is not limited to a specific subject matter. Newspapers are intended either for the general public or a particular ethnic, cultural, or national group.

Multiple newspaper issues may be registered using one application, one filing fee, and the appropriate deposit copies when they meet certain requirements set forth by Office regulations. Otherwise, each issue will need to be registered separately with individual applications, filing fees, and deposits.

Newspaper websites are not eligible for this group registration option because a website is not considered a serial for purposes of registration. For more information on registering a website, see Copyright Registration of Websites and Website Content (Circular 66). However, an electronically printed (ePrint) newspaper may be eligible for a group registration, provided that it satisfies the eligibility requirements listed above. For purposes of group registration, an ePrint newspaper is an issue that is published and distributed online or via email as a self-contained, downloadable work, such as a digital version of a tangible newspaper.

NOTE: If a serial publication does not meet these eligibility requirements, it may be possible to register the issues as a group of serials or as a group of newsletters. For more information, see Group Registration of Serials (Circular 62B) and Help: Newsletters at www.copyright.gov/eco/help-newsletters.html. An individual issue may also be registered as a single serial issue. For more information, see Copyright Registration of Single Serial Issues (Circular 62).

Authorship in Newspapers

Newspapers are considered collective works because they contain a number of contributions constituting separate and independent works in themselves that are assembled into a collective whole. A newspaper typically contains two different types of authorship:

1. The authorship in the issue as a whole, including the selection, coordination, or arrangement of the separate contributions, as well as editing, annotation, or revision; and
2. The authorship in the separate and independent works that have been included within the issue, which may contain literary or artistic expression.

A registration for a group of newspapers covers each issue in the group and each issue is registered as a separate collective work. Furthermore, because each issue is registered as a collective work, the registration also covers the articles, photographs, illustrations, or other contributions that appear in each issue, as long as the claimant fully owns the copyright in both the issue and the contributions, and those contributions have not been previously published or registered and are not in the public domain.

To register a claim to copyright in two or more issues of a newspaper, you must (1) complete the Copyright Office's online application for "daily newspapers"; (2) submit a nonrefundable filing fee; and (3) upload a digital copy of each newspaper issue. This circular highlights issues common to registrations of a group of newspapers. For general registration information, see Copyright Registration (Circular 2).

NOTE: Copyright Office fees are subject to change. For current fees, see Copyright Office Fees (Circular 4), available on the Office's website at www.copyright.gov or call the Office at (202) 707-3000 or 1-877-476-0778 (toll free).

Group Registration Eligibility

Multiple newspaper issues may be registered together as long as they meet the following requirements:

1. Each issue must be an all-new collective work that has not been published before. NOTE: Earlier editions of a particular issue may be submitted together with the final edition.
2. Each issue must be fixed and distributed as a discrete, self-contained collective work, and the claim in each issue must be limited to the collective work.

3. The author and claimant for each issue must be the same person or organization.

4. Each issue must be a work made for hire.

5. All the issues must be published under the same continuing title.
6. All the issues must be published within the same calendar month and bear issue dates within that month.
7. The applicant must identify the earliest and latest date that the issues were published.

Completing the Group Registration Application

The application for registration must be submitted through the Office's online registration system, and you must use the application designated for "daily newspapers." Mistakes in applications lead to delays in registration, so it is important to complete the application accurately. Here are some tips regarding common points of confusion.

Title of Newspaper

1. Provide the title, month and year date, or edition number of the newspaper exactly as it appears on the issues.
2. Identify the total number of issues submitted for registration.
3. Do not include titles for any contributions that appear in the newspaper.

International Serial Standard Number (ISSN)

1. Provide the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) that has been assigned to the newspaper. As discussed below, you also need to include the ISSN in the file name for each issue you upload to the Copyright Office.
2. If you do not have an ISSN, you may request a number from the U.S. ISSN Center. To do so, complete the ISSN Newspaper Application Form and make a PDF copy of the front page of one issue (including the masthead or nameplate) and any internal page that contains the editorial block, masthead, and publisher information. The completed form and PDF copies should be emailed to issngrnp@loc.gov with the subject line "Group Registration of Newspapers."

Author/Claimant

1. As mentioned above, the newspaper must be a collective work, and the claim in each issue must be limited to the collective work. When you submit the application, the term "collective work authorship" will automatically be added to your application. The registration will also cover all of the articles, photographs, illustrations, or other contributions appearing in each issue that are fully owned by the claimant and that have not been previously registered or published.
2. If the copyright in individual contributions is owned by parties other than the owner of the copyright in the issue as a whole, or if the contributions have been previously published or previously registered, you must submit a separate application for each contribution.

Date of Publication for First and Last Issues in the Group

1. Provide the month, day, and year of publication for the earliest and most recent issues in the group. The issues must be published within the same month.

Submitting the Deposit

To register your group of newspapers, you must upload a digital copy of each issue to the Copyright Office, and you must include all of the issues published during the month identified in the application. The issues must be submitted in PDF form, and you must upload a separate PDF for each issue. The files must be viewable and searchable, contain embedded fonts, and be free from any access restrictions, such as password protection, watermarks, or other Digital Rights Management (DRM). Each file should be named using the following convention:

“GRNP_[ISSN Number]_[Date of Publication YYYYMMDD].pdf”

NOTE: Be sure to include two digits for both the month and day, such as 01, 02, 03, etc. (not 1, 2, 3, etc.).

For example, the file name for an issue published on March 1, 2018, under ISSN 1236-567X should be: “GRNP_1236567X_20180301.pdf”

If you have applied for an ISSN but have not received it yet, state “pending” in the file name:

Example: “GRNP_Pending_20180301.pdf”

You must upload each issue as an individual PDF file, and the file size for each PDF must not exceed 500 MB. You may compress the PDF to meet the file size limitation. Do not upload the issues in a compressed file, such as a .cab, .rar, or .zip file.

Once a deposit has been submitted, it becomes part of the public record and cannot be returned. The Library of Congress may make newspaper issues available to up to two Library of Congress authorized users at any one time. Authorized users will be able to access these issues via a secure server over a secure network that services Library of Congress premises. In addition, Library staff may access the issues off-site as part of their assigned duties through a secure connection.

As of December 31, 2019, the Copyright Office no longer accepts 35 mm silver halide microfilm.

---NOTE

1. This circular is intended as an overview of copyright registration of a group of newspapers. The authoritative source for U.S. copyright law is the Copyright Act, codified in Title 17 of the United States Code. Copyright regulations are codified in Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Copyright Office practices and procedures are summarized in the third edition of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, cited as the Compendium. The copyright law, regulations, and the Compendium are available on the Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov.

For Further Information

By Internet

The copyright law, the Compendium, electronic registration, application forms, regulations, and related materials are available on the Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov.

By Email

To send an email inquiry, click the Contact Us link on the Copyright Office website.

By Telephone

For general information, call the Copyright Public Information Office at (202) 707-3000 or 1-877-476-0778 (toll free). Staff members are on duty from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, eastern time, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays. To request application forms or circulars by postal mail, call (202) 707-9100 or 1-877-476-0778 and leave a recorded message.

By Regular Mail

Write to

Library of Congress

U.S. Copyright Office

Outreach and Education Section

101 Independence Avenue, SE #6304

Washington, DC 20559-6304