On March 20, the U.S. Copyright Office published a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding proposed changes to its fee schedule.
The NPRM proposes substantial increases in certain fees, including raising the fee for news website group registrations from $95 to $350. The news website option was adopted in 2024 and provides publishers for the first time an easy way to register online content (see News Media Alliance’s guide to copyright registration here).
The office previously adjusted its fees in 2020. Following the NPRM, the proposed fee schedule will go into effect 120 days after it is provided to Congress, absent congressional action.
The News Media Alliance prepared a response, with Wisconsin already opposing any fee hikes.
“Like the rest of the U.S., Wisconsin newspapers are losing their main income streams. Print advertising has largely disappeared due to competing platforms; circulation revenue is declining as readers shift online and digital ads exist but generate far less revenue than print once did,” WNA Executive Director Beth Bennett wrote in a recent letter expressing Wisconsin’s opposition to Group Registration of Updates to a News Website (GRNW) fee increase.
“Cumulatively, this has created a long-term ‘revenue gap’ that most local papers have not fully replaced. Consequently, many local newspapers have limited leverage when it comes to negotiating licensing deals. To protect their content, copyright registration remains key,” Bennett added.
“We strongly commend the Office for promulgating the GRNW option and enabling publishers to easily register their online content. We are actively working with and encouraging our members to take advantage of this new opportunity and register their content,” Bennett wrote.
“We are concerned, however, that the proposed fee schedule would severely hinder this progress and limit publishers’ ability to register their content in the first place. The proposed 3.5-fold fee increase for GRNW would simply make the option economically unfeasible for most of our publishers, and we expect some to stop registering, while others will never start,” Bennett added.
“To protect local journalism in America, we must keep copyright registration accessible to all publishers,” Bennett concluded, “and we therefore join others in calling you to withdraw the proposed GRNW fee increase and limit any adjustments to the bare minimum.”
