Registering a song means two things. Copyright Office registration is generally required before suing over infringement of a U.S. work; online fees here run $45 (narrowly eligible Single Application) to $85 (GRUW). Online claims with uploaded deposits and no correspondence averaged 3.6 months; all claims averaged 4.1 months. Separately, accurate PRO, MLC, and SoundExchange registrations support matching of eligible royalties.
Search "register a song" and you get two different answers. Half the results explain the U.S. Copyright Office. The other half explain ASCAP and BMI. Both are right, because registering a song is not one action.
It is a set of filings. Each has a different purpose, fee structure, and consequence. Copyright Office registration creates a public record and supports enforcement; the other registrations help the relevant organizations match and pay eligible royalty streams.
Music Copyright Basics covers what copyright is and what it protects. This article covers the filings: which ones you need, what each costs right now, and how long each takes. Every fee and processing time below was checked against copyright.gov in August 2026.
The Four Places a Song Gets Registered
What you want | Where you register | Cost | What it gets you |
|---|---|---|---|
Registration generally required before a federal infringement suit over a U.S. work | U.S. Copyright Office | Varies by application | A public registration record; timely registration may preserve eligibility for statutory damages and attorney's fees |
Performance royalties | ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC | Varies by PRO | Income from radio, TV, venues, and streaming performances |
US streaming mechanicals | The MLC | Free | Mechanical royalties from US streaming services |
Digital radio royalties | SoundExchange | Free | Sirius XM, Pandora, and webcast income for the recording |
Only the first one is optional. Copyright exists the moment you record the song, so the Copyright Office filing adds enforcement power rather than ownership. The other three are optional only in the sense that leaving money uncollected is optional.
Skipping any of the last three does not lose you the song. It loses you money the song has already earned. How to Collect Music Royalties covers the collection side in full.
Both routes are below, Copyright Office first, because that is the one with fees, deadlines, and a real rejection risk.
What You Are Actually Registering
A recorded original song often involves two distinct copyrightable works: the musical composition and the sound recording. You may register one or both if you own the relevant rights.
Copyright | What it covers | Application type | Who files it |
|---|---|---|---|
Composition | Melody, lyrics, arrangement | Performing Arts (PA) | The songwriters |
Sound recording | The particular recorded performance and production | Sound Recording (SR) | The performer(s) and/or producer(s), or the applicable work-made-for-hire author or transferee |
If you solely wrote, performed, and produced the song outside a work-made-for-hire or transfer arrangement, you generally begin as owner of both copyrights. When the claimant for the recording and the claimant for the underlying composition are the same person or company, one application can cover both. When different parties own them, they need separate applications.
Publishing vs Master Rights explains why that split keeps mattering long after the filing.
Route One: Filing with the U.S. Copyright Office
Step 1: Create an account
Go to copyright.gov and open a free account in the electronic registration system (eCO). You need an email address. The account is permanent and holds every registration you file.
Step 2: Choose the application type
Select "Register a Work," then pick the application that matches your situation.
Choose Sound Recording (SR) if you wrote and recorded the song and the claimant is the same for both copyrights. Choose Work of the Performing Arts (PA) if you are registering the composition only, because someone else owns the master.
Step 3: Fill in the application
Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
Title | The title of the work; if it has no title, the Office permits a working title or identifying phrase |
Year of completion | The year the work was finished |
Date of first publication | If the work has been published, the date it was first distributed as copies or phonorecords; streaming-only availability is not necessarily publication |
Author | Each author who created copyrightable material; follow the Office's instructions for anonymous, pseudonymous, and work-made-for-hire claims |
Author's contribution | Describe only the authorship being claimed; for a combined filing, select "sound recording" and identify the underlying music and/or lyrics as the application directs |
Claimant | The person or company that owns the copyright |
Limitation of claim | Complete this when the work contains an appreciable amount of unclaimable material, including previously published or registered material, public-domain material, or material owned by another party |
Author and claimant are not the same field. The author created the work. The claimant owns it. On a self-released song they are usually the same person, and on anything involving a label, publisher, or LLC they often are not.
Step 4: Upload the deposit
The deposit is the copy the Copyright Office keeps on file. It defines what you are protecting.
Submit a complete deposit of the authorship you are registering. An accepted audio file such as MP3 or WAV can serve as the deposit for a digital sound recording or musical composition; a score or lead sheet can serve for notated music. Follow the selected application's file and upload instructions, because group applications may require separate files.
The deposit must be a complete copy of the work you are registering; follow the Office's published-versus-unpublished deposit rules for the application you selected.
Step 5: Pay and submit
Pay by card or electronic check inside the portal. You get a confirmation email, and your effective registration date is the day the Office has your complete application, deposit, and fee together. Infringement that happens while the claim is still pending is covered by that date.
What It Costs and How Long It Takes
Filing | Fee | Covers |
|---|---|---|
Single application | $45 | One work created and solely owned by one individual author, with that person named as the claimant, and not made for hire |
Standard application | $65 | A single song that does not qualify for the Single Application, including a co-written song; use the applicable group application for an eligible group of works |
Paper filing (Form PA, SR, TX, VA, SE) | $125 | Filing on paper instead of online |
Group of unpublished works (GRUW) | $85 | Up to 10 unpublished works by the same author |
Group of works on an album (GRAM) | $65 | 2 to 20 works published on one album |
Special handling | $800 extra | Expedited review for litigation or contract deadlines |
Processing runs slower than most artists expect. For cases closed between October 2025 and March 2026, the Copyright Office reports an average of 4.1 months across all claims. Online filings with an uploaded digital deposit and no examiner questions averaged 3.6 months, ranging from 2 to 5.3 months. Claims that triggered correspondence averaged 5.0 months.
That wait matters more than it looks. Since Fourth Estate v. Wall-Street.com in 2019, you cannot file a federal infringement suit until the Copyright Office has acted on your application. Submitting the form is not enough on its own. That is what the $800 special handling fee exists for, and it is the argument for registering at release rather than after a problem shows up.
Single Song vs Group Registration
Registering an album one track at a time is the most expensive way to do it.
Approach | Cost for a 10-song album | Best for |
|---|---|---|
Standard application, one per song | $650 | Singles released months apart |
GRUW, up to 10 unpublished works | $85 | Demos or a finished album before release |
GRAM, 2 to 20 works on one album | $65 per group | An album or EP after release |
Two details trip people up. GRAM groups musical works and sound recordings separately, so an album where you own both copyrights takes two GRAM filings at $65 each. GRUW requires every work in the group to be unpublished. A release that authorizes downloads may publish a work, while streaming alone does not necessarily do so, so determine publication status from the actual distribution method.
Most artists and their teams file GRAM after release and treat the $130 as a line item in the release budget. The protection is identical to filing each song on its own.
Route Two: Registering the Song with a PRO
A PRO registration is a different transaction entirely. The Copyright Office records a copyright claim. A PRO records ownership and share information used to administer performance royalties from sources such as radio, television, live venues, and streaming.
You affiliate once with one PRO as a writer, then register each song you write. ASCAP currently lists writer membership as free. BMI and SESAC set their own affiliation terms, and SESAC is invitation-only. Publisher affiliation is a separate step at every PRO and typically carries a one-time fee.
Per song, the PRO wants the title, every writer with their IPI number, the publisher behind each writer's share, and the ownership splits. Splits have to total 100 percent across all writers. When co-writers sit at different PROs, each registers their own share with their own PRO, and the numbers have to match on both sides.
Two more registrations sit alongside the PRO, both free:
The MLC collects mechanical royalties from US streaming services for the composition. Registering your works is what lets those payments match to you instead of sitting unclaimed.
SoundExchange collects digital performance royalties for the recording from non-interactive services such as Sirius XM and Pandora. This one pays the recording owner and the featured performers, not the songwriter.
Common Registration Mistakes
Waiting until someone infringes. Statutory damages and attorney's fees are generally unavailable for infringement that begins before registration. For infringement that begins after first publication, registration within three months after first publication generally preserves eligibility; statutory exceptions also exist. When those remedies are unavailable, a claimant may still seek actual damages and the infringer's profits.
Confusing Copyright Office registration with PRO registration. They do different jobs and neither replaces the other. Affiliating with ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC sets you up to collect performance royalties. It does not give you the right to sue.
Picking the wrong application type. Filing a PA when you meant SR, or the reverse, can leave one of the two copyrights unregistered. If you own the recording and the composition, the SR route covers both in one filing.
No split sheet before filing. Identify each author of the copyrightable material as the application requires, following the Office's rules for anonymous, pseudonymous, and work-made-for-hire claims. Sorting out authorship after filing may require a supplementary registration, so agree the splits first.
Using the Single Application rate when you do not qualify. The $45 rate is limited to one work created and solely owned by one individual author who is also the claimant, and the work cannot be made for hire. Using it for a co-written song can cause delays, an additional fee, and a later effective date; follow the Office's instructions to correct the application.
What Registration Does Not Do
Copyright registration creates a public record of a copyright claim and is required for certain enforcement benefits. Copyright does not protect an artist name, and registration does not collect royalties; distributors and royalty organizations handle different payment streams.
It also does not prevent infringement. Nothing does. What it gives you is a dated public record and a set of remedies that are unavailable without it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to register before releasing a song?
No. Copyright generally attaches when an original song is fixed in a recording or notation. For infringement that begins after first publication, registration within three months of that publication generally preserves eligibility for statutory damages and attorney's fees, which is why many creators file promptly.
How much does it cost to register a song?
The Single Application costs $45 only for one work created and solely owned by one individual author who is also the claimant and when the work is not made for hire; the Standard Application costs $65 online; GRUW costs $85 for an eligible group of up to 10 unpublished works; and GRAM costs $65 per eligible group of album works.
How long does copyright registration take?
Online claims with an uploaded digital deposit and no examiner questions average 3.6 months, and the average across all claims is 4.1 months. Your effective registration date is the filing date, not the approval date.
Is registering with ASCAP or BMI the same as copyrighting a song?
No. A PRO registration sets up performance royalty collection. Copyright Office registration is what gives you the ability to sue for infringement. Most songwriters need both.
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Orphiq keeps your releases, tracks, and release metadata like UPCs and ISRCs in one place, so the paperwork sits next to the release plan. Orphiq does not file registrations for you.