The Best Copyright Registration Services

Friday, October 11th

2024 Copyright Registration Service Reviews

LegalZoom

• $114 + federal filing fees
• 60-day refund policy
• "A-” rated and accredited by the BBB
• In business since 2001

LegalZoom believes that getting help from an attorney shouldn't cost an arm and a leg. They work hard to make legal help affordable and accessible for the average American consumer. More than four million customers have used their services for everything from estate planning to business formation, and their copyright registration service is one of the best around.

Helpful and informative

We encourage you to read through all of the information provided by LegalZoom to educate you on copyrights. It clearly explains what a copyright can protect and invites you to consider a trademark or a patent if you're trying to cover a brand name, slogan, invention, or product design. We really like that LegalZoom offers sample documents if you want to see what a copyright registration will look like, before you even provide a single personal detail about your work.

Straightforward and affordable

You'll pay $114 plus federal filing fees when you use LegalZoom to register your copyright. The process begins with an online questionnaire, where you'll provide basic details about your work. It should take you 15 minutes or less. From there, your information will be reviewed by the LegalZoom team, who will pull together your application and send it to you to look over, making sure everything is complete and consistent.

Submit your work

Next, you'll submit 1-2 copies of your original work. Finally, LegalZoom processes the application, filing it electronically with the US Copyright Office. You'll get updates as your application is processed. As with any copyright registration service, LegalZoom can't make the USCO process your application faster, so expect it to take anywhere from 8-12 months to get your registration certificate in the mail.

Help is just a call or chat away

Need more help than that? You can reach an agent at LegalZoom seven days a week at their toll-free number posted at the bottom of the site or via live chat. For more in-depth legal help, you can opt into their network of attorneys for less than $50/month; just click on the "Ask an attorney” box towards the bottom of the site.

Satisfaction guaranteed in the first 60 days

LegalZoom offers extra peace of mind with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. However, it's not quite unlimited or applicable in all circumstances. They say, "we can only refund our fee for issues we're directly responsible for”. In other words, if they make a mistake in the first 60 days - a typo, missing paperwork - they'll cover it. But, if you get impatient and go with a different service, you're not going to get your money back here.

Highly rated

Still, LegalZoom is very reputable and reliable. The Better Business Bureau gives the company an "A-”: yes, it's true that there were almost 1000 complaints filed there in the last three years, but when a service like LegalZoom has more than four million customers in 20+ years, it's pretty normal to have some less-than-perfect interactions. Beyond the BBB, fortunately, there are plenty of five-star reviews from LegalZoom clients, which should set your mind at ease.

#1 choice for copyright registration

Over 90,000 people have used LegalZoom for copyright registration. Will you be their next client? We think you should be. You can trust that with LegalZoom's help, your application will be accurate and filed in a timely fashion. This service earns our highest rating among copyright registration providers.

Trademark Elite

• $399 for Standard package
• $499 for Elite package
• $799 for Comprehensive package
• Federal filing fees not included
• Work directly with attorneys
• "A+” rated and accredited by the BBB

The lawyers behind Trademark Elite have helped thousands of clients ranging from sophisticated corporations to first-time entrepreneurs and individuals. This platform offers you attorney-guided support as you register your copyright.

Sticker shock

There are three copyright registration packages here, and you might want to brace yourself for the pricing:

• Standard ($399): this gets you the full federal copyright registration service for photo-based works
• Elite ($499): this package is for a visual medium
• Comprehensive ($799): this package is best if you're registering a multi-media copyright

Work hand-in-hand with a lawyer

The process is similar to most copyright services: fill out Trademark Elite's online questionnaire about the work you're seeking to protect. Their attorneys will work directly with you to finalize the details of your application and file it when it's complete: this is a much more comprehensive service than many of the alternatives in our review, where you submit your application and hope for the best. If there are any requests for more information from the USCO or you have any questions or concerns along the way, you'll always have access to a specialist and/or attorney once you're a Trademark Elite client.

8-12 months to be approved

We also appreciate that Trademark Elite is upfront with how long the process may take: your application could be submitted quickly, but the overall processing time can take anywhere from 3-12 months, depending on how the application is filed (digitally, via mail, or a hybrid).

Extremely high customer satisfaction

Under the name of its parent company, The Ideas Law Firm, Trademark Elite has an "A+” rating and accreditation from the Better Business Bureau. Beyond the BBB, this company's reputation continues to be excellent: over 97% give the service a 4- or 5-star rating. Clients say that it's worth the extra money you spend to get copyright registration services here, because of the attention to detail offered by the customer service team. In this case, you really do get what you pay for.

Worth the money for peace of mind

While $799 (or even $399) might be out of range for some budgets, Trademark Elite's copyright registration service offers excellent value for anyone wanting some extra hand-holding throughout the process. This is one of our top picks in the industry.

My Corporation

• $99 + $39 S/H + federal filing fees
• Informative website
• Good reputation for customer service
• "A+” rated by the BBB

As you might guess from the name, My Corporation helps entrepreneurs and business owners handle all of the requirements needed to launch a company and maintain it once it's up and running, from becoming an LLC or incorporating to payroll and compliance checks. In other words, copyright registration is just one of the many services you can access through this platform.

Learn more about copyrights here

If you're brand-new to copyrights, you should read through the helpful information on the My Corporation site. There's a great chart that sorts out which works should be trademarked vs. copyrighted, plus more in-depth explanations of each type of work covered by a copyright.

Costs more than some

To register your copyright through My Corporation, you'll pay $99 for the service - fairly standard - but this company tacks on an additional $39 for UPS delivery of your initial documents. They also say that your federal fee to file will be $65, but many other sites were quoting $45-$55 at the same time. We don't love that, but at least it's consistent: it was the same several years ago when we evaluated My Corporation.

They'll file your application

The process itself is not time-consuming. You'll go through a series of questions about your work: medium type, whether or not it's already been displayed publicly, your state of residence, and so forth. The experts at My Copyright will take your information and use it to fill out the application on your behalf and file it with the USCO.

Ample positive feedback from clients

The Better Business Bureau gives My Corporation an "A+” rating, and there were no complaints filed there in the three years prior to this review. Although most of the reviews from customers relate to other business processes, like incorporation and changing a registered agent, almost everyone who uses My Corporation gives it a 4- or 5-star rating. They praise the customer support team for being knowledgeable and responsive, and many clients credit them for saving the day under many different circumstances.

Worth a look

You might pay a little bit more if you use My Corporation to register your copyright, but it's not so much more that it should be a deciding factor. This company has a great reputation, one that you can count on to provide excellent service throughout the sometimes-lengthy process of getting everything registered with the US Copyright Office.

Copyright Registration

• $89 to register one work by one author (includes USCO filing fees)
• $139 to register up to 10 works of the same type (also includes USCO fees)
• Launched in August 2022

Copyright Registration is brand-spanking new, launching in August 2022 as a service that takes the hassle out of protecting your creative work and getting it done online in a matter of minutes.

Step-by-step video instructions if you need them

Not sure you understand the process for registering your work? If you go to the chat box, there's a link inside to a YouTube video that will show you step-by-step what to do. You can also ask any questions in that same chat, keeping in mind that this is a West Coast-based company (we entered a question outside of Pacific time zone business hours and, unsurprisingly, didn't get a reply right away).

Service fee includes filing cost

Where this company stands out is price. At the time of this evaluation, Copyright Registration's regular price was $99, but a pre-launch special brought it down to just $89. That sounds fairly comparable with other services in our review - until you realize that this one includes the USCO registration fees in the one-time fee. For that price, you can register one work by one author, have your registration reviewed by a person (not just automated via the website), and your certification will come in the mail.

Go Premium if you're registering more than one work

Copyright Registration also offers a Premium package, regularly priced at $149 and launch special-priced at $139. It includes up to 10 works of the same type by multiple authors, as well as AV/motion pictures.

No client feedback yet

Of course, as a brand-new service, Copyright Registration is missing the customer feedback we'd typically rely on to determine the trustworthiness of any service: at the time of this review, there was no listing with the Better Business Bureau, no reviews on third-party sites, no testimonials on the site itself. That makes it a little less than risk-free to use Copyright Registration, at least until the company has more time to establish its reputation as a reliable service.

We'd give it a try

Still, you can't beat the price: that in itself is reason to give Copyright Registration a look. We give this service an above-average rating on affordability alone, and we hope to see ample positive feedback from clients in the future - which would easily move the company to the top of the list.

Rocket Lawyer

• $39.99/month after 7-day free trial
• Available documents include Cease and Desist Letter, Copyright License Agreement, Copyright Notice, Copyright Assignment
• "A+” rated and accredited by the BBB

Over 25 million people have used Rocket Lawyer to access a variety of legal documents, with an easy-to-understand platform and affordable pricing.

Only copyright-related documents here, not registration

First and foremost, you should note that Rocket Lawyer isn't a copyright registration service per se. You'll find documents related to copyright - Cease and Desist Letter, Copyright License Agreement, Copyright Notice, Copyright Assignment - and plenty of other documents that might be useful in other areas of your personal life or business, but nothing that gets your work registered with the US Copyright Office.

Other services could be useful

Still, those copyright-related documents could be worth considering. Give Rocket Lawyer a no-risk trial for seven days. If you decide you like the service, you'll automatically be subscribed at the end of that first week, billed $39.99 monthly. Your membership gives you access to any of the hundreds of legal documents in the RL library, document defense, a 30-minute consultation on each new legal matter, and the "Ask a Lawyer” service for one-off kinds of questions. You will also save up to 40% if you decide to hire one of their On Call attorneys.

Great overall reputation

Generally speaking, Rocket Lawyer has a solid reputation. The company is "A+” rated and accredited by the Better Business Bureau, and more than 90% of their clients give them a 4- or 5-star rating. Subscribers say that they get a lot for their money across a broad spectrum of legal situations, and even those who just take advantage of the 7-day trial and cancel typically have no problem getting what they need or terminating their plan. The only complaints tend to come from users who didn't read the terms closely and are mad that their trial converted to a month-to-month payment structure.

Solid company - but not useful for copyright registration

However, Rocket Lawyer doesn't have much to offer with respect to the actual process of copyright registration. You'll find some helpful documents to manage your copyright, but you'll still need to do the registration with the US Copyright Office on your own. We like Rocket Lawyer overall and give it a three-star rating due to its reputation, but you'll likely want to look at a more copyright-focused service to protect your creative works.

The Trademark Company

• $99 + federal filing fees for Standard
• $199 + federal filing fees for Platinum (includes NFT)
• 60-day guarantee
• In business since 1999

The Trademark Company has been in business since 1999, making it affordable and easy for clients to get the legal services they need to register copyrights, trademarks and patents or to start a business.

Standard package is nothing unusual

There are two packages for copyright registration here. The first is the Standard, and that's an apt description: it costs the industry-standard $99 plus federal fees to have your application assembled by a specialist and filed electronically with the USCO. Nothing fancy or unusual here.

How about an NFT?

Where The Trademark Company diverges from the norm is with their Platinum package. You get all the usual services from the Standard plan, plus the minting of a Non Fungible Token (NFT) of your work on the publicly accessible blockchain, forwarded to your Solana NFT Wallet. This package is $199 and is billed as "the ultimate in protection”.

Reputation isn't stellar

We're not overly impressed with The Trademark Company's reputation. Their "B+” rating and 60 complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau don't really paint a picture of excellence in helping clients register copyrights and trademarks. One recent complaint described spending over $1200 to protect a work, only to have the application denied - largely because The Trademark Company's reps failed to respond to requests from the federal government when more action was required. Other complaints said that they had problems due to errors one wouldn't expect when using a professional service to register a copyright or trademark, like grammatical errors and wording that didn't follow the requirements.

Hard to get a refund here

We also noticed that, despite offering a 60-day guarantee and refund policy, The Trademark Company often resorts to recommending that clients just dispute the charge on their credit card - because their accounting department is "short-staffed” and a chargeback will go faster. Um, what?

Still gets five-star reviews from some customers

And yet, we still found more than 700 five-star reviews from happy clients of this company. At the end of the day, it seems like you'll either have a fantastic, flawless experience getting your copyright registered through The Trademark Company - or an abysmal one.

Room for improvement

If you really like the novelty of getting an NFT as part of your copyright registration process, The Trademark Company might be worth the risk because they're the only service we found that's offering that. For all other clients, though, a more reliable service might be the better bet.

Trademark Engine

• $99 + federal filing fees for Basic package
• $199 + federal filing fees for Deluxe package
• Process can be completed in just a few minutes

Trademark Engine focuses on helping small business owners to protect their brand worldwide. While they say that some clients may still need a more customized plan through an attorney, most people can get exactly what they need to register their copyright here.

Simple online process

There are three simple steps to copyright registration with Trademark Engine. Completing their online questionnaire about your work should take you ten minutes or less. From there, your official application to the USCO will be created and sent online for your approval. Once you've uploaded or sent in your work, Trademark Engine will file the application with the federal government.

Choose from Basic or Deluxe

Choose from two packages here. The Basic plan is $99 (plus federal filing fees) and includes the steps described previously, processed within five business days. For an extra $100, the Deluxe package includes a Cease & Desist letter, Transfer/Assignment template, and 24-hour expedited processing of your application.

Customer feedback isn't consistent

We're genuinely puzzled by the feedback for Trademark Engine. On the one hand, we found hundreds of five-star reviews praising the company for offering excellent customer service and an easy process for registering copyrights and trademarks. On the other hand, the picture isn't so pretty when you see Trademark Engine's "F” rating from the Better Business Bureau, stemming from 37 filed complaints and TE's failure to respond to a third of them.

Watch out for undisclosed charges

Most of the negative reviews describe seemingly fraudulent billing practices: charges tacked on without being clearly explained to the customer, billing that continues after cancellation, and so forth. The most troubling aspect of billing at Trademark Engine is the way they seem to add on extra fees after you enter your credit card information. What starts out as a $99 copyright registration package may balloon to $350 or more once all is said and done. Multiple clients criticize this company for such seemingly-deceptive practices - so much for guaranteeing "friendly, caring, and efficient” service.

Not recommended

Yes, some clients have used Trademark Engine and have no complaints. That could be you too. Or, you could find yourself among the many who wish they'd used a different copyright registration service the first time. We recommend that you consider a different option to protect your creative work - because using Trademark Engine could hurt your wallet.

Copyrighted

• Free Basic plan
• $19.95/month for Professional
• $39.95/month for Business
• 50% discount when paying annually
• 7-day money-back guarantee
• Protect/monitor websites
• Register/protect original works
• Professional takedown service offered

Copyrighted says that their service makes it easy to safeguard your original works, prevent theft and plagiarism, and share ideas safely. In less than five minutes, you can theoretically register your copyright and get an official certificate.

3 plans to choose from

There are three plan tiers with Copyrighted. The Basic plan is free for life, and it allows you to register up to five works per month and five files per work, protect one website of up to 100 pages, and 1 Gb of backup storage. If you need more coverage, consider the Professional or Business plan, priced at $19.95 and $39.95 per month, respectively. Those two plans offer the same perks as the Basic plan, just more of them: 100 or 300 registered works per month, 25 or 100 protected websites, and so forth.

Takedowns available as an extra service

Also, with Copyrighted's top two tiers, you can get a 10% or 20% discount on their takedowns service. Regularly priced at $99.95, this feature gives you "fast and efficient stolen content removal” if your work has been infringed.

Money-back guarantee - if you can reach them

Copyrighted offers a 7-day money-back guarantee on their copyright registration plans, and a success guarantee on the takedowns service. However, you'll have a challenging time getting them to make good on either promise: the only way to contact the company is via online form.

No registration with the USCO

And that's just the beginning of trouble when it comes to this copyright registration service. Like the rest of the providers that have landed at the bottom of our rankings, this one doesn't actually register your work with the US Copyright Office. You "register” with Copyrighted, and nothing more.

Is anyone really using this service?

Plus, despite Copyrighted's claim that "thousands of people” have used this service and are happy with the results, we just couldn't find evidence of any satisfied clients. We found just one review, and the customer said that the takedown service failed in removing infringement - and no refund was offered. Plus, Copyrighted's social media channels went silent about two years ago, leaving us wondering if anyone is actually responding to clients leaving messages through that online contact form we mentioned earlier.

Not even worth using for free

We give Copyrighted a half-star bump from rock-bottom simply because they offer their most basic services for free: at least if you're getting a totally ineffective copyright service, you don't have to pay for it. In all seriousness, however, don't waste your time with Copyrighted. Go with one of the higher-ranked copyright registration services in our review and get it done right the first time.

Copyright Registration Service

• $45 for 4 years
• $80 for 8 years
• $110 for 12 years
• $125 for 15 years

If you've done your research on what it can cost to register a copyright, you know that it can be less-than-cheap. Copyright Registration Service is counting on you looking for a more affordable way to get it done, so that you'll be enticed by their comparatively-low pricing. With this service, however, you won't get the registration with the US government that you're probably expecting.

Pay the company to register... with the company?

What do you get, then? CRS will register you with the "IP Rights Office”. Fantastic, right? Not exactly. Despite the official-sounding name, the "IP Rights Office” is just a private business. And guess who owns it? Yes, that's right - the same company that runs Copyright Registration Service.

No governmental registration provided

If there's a more circular business model, we've never seen it. So, to be clear: if you decide to pay $45 for a 4-year registration or $125 for a 15-year registration (or any of the in-between plans), you're merely registering your copyright with a business, not with any government.

Not required for international copyright registration

But wait! Copyright Registration Service makes it sound like their service is absolutely necessary if you're trying to protect your copyright worldwide. They go to great lengths to bring up the Berne Convention and the site even displays if your home country (the US) is governed by it. Dig a little deeper, though, and you'll see what we learned: most countries under the Berne Convention don't have a formal process to register a copyright, and that convention allows you to file an infringement suit without any formal copyright registration.

Zero value

In short, there's absolutely nothing gained by registering your work with Copyright Registration Service. You won't be protected by US copyright laws, the service offers no real benefit internationally, and you're lining the pockets of the "IP Rights Office” - nothing more. Spend what it takes to use a reputable copyright registration service and forget that this one exists.

Copyright Application Online

• $99 for Copyright Application plus additional fees
• Additional services may be required

Copyright Application Online is one of the most mysterious copyright registration services we've found. To start, they proudly proclaim in big letters that they offer "Federal Copyright & Trademark Registration Legal Services, Information, and Advice.”

Company doesn't even know what it offers

But drop down to the bottom of the site and you'll see it quietly states that the service "does not provide any legal advice or participate in any legal representation”. Alrighty then! And yet, you can click on the Legal Services button and sign up for... trademark or copyright legal services. At a bargain rate of $400/hour, no less.

Sketchy claims to fame

We imagine that's to be expected for a service operated by a company called World Wide Marketing: clearly, this isn't a business specializing in copyright registration, but rather a piece of online software that takes your information and passes it along to the official, governmental part of the process. We're also not sure we buy their stats: supposedly, Copyright Application Online has registered 35,000 copyrights and 30,000 trademarks, with a 97% success rate. Given that the site's own copyright was four years out of date at the time of this review, we wouldn't take those numbers as fact.

No way to reach a representative

It got even "better” when we called the toll-free number during regular business hours. There was no way to speak to a representative: we were directed to either go to the website for more information or leave a voicemail message. The site's live chat was the same: no one available, leave a message, wait for an email response. Are you getting the picture?

Application process is clear

Let's say that, for some reason, you decide to forge ahead and use Copyright Application Online to register your material. That part is actually (and surprisingly) straightforward at first: provide your email, select the category of your work, answer the applicable questions (for example, a description of the work or the number of authors/creators). You'll have to wait until you get to the very end to find out what your copyright registration will cost. We entered a profile of a single author registering one work and were quoted $99 for the copyright application and an additional $45 fee for our specific type of copyright.

Extra services available

There were plenty of additional services on offer. These included $25 for priority rush processing, a $30 membership reward program (providing a 15% reduction on any future copyright submissions), and a federal/state search for any similar copyrights for $49.95.

Avoid this copyright registration provider

Needless to say, however, we don't recommend that you use any of those services. In fact, your best bet is to avoid Copyright Application Online altogether: who knows where your paperwork will go? You won't be able to ask that beforehand or after you submit it, and it's no big surprise that client feedback for this company is nonexistent. Use one of the more reputable copyright registration providers in our review instead.