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#1782 2008-05-06 12:33 GMT     

By Daryl Lang

The U.S. Copyright Office says it has an eight-month backlog for processing paper registrations.

The quicker alternative, registering online, is still in the testing phase and is only available to people who have signed up as beta testers.

In an announcement posted on its web site last week, the Copyright Office blames the backlog on the transition from paper to electronic applications.

The announcement assures registrants that their registration is effective the day the office receives their complete application, not when the processing is complete.

"Regardless of when you receive your certificate, the effective date of registration of a work is still the day all the required elements in acceptable form are received by the Copyright Office," the announcement says.

Many photographers register their work as a layer of legal protection against infringement. In court, photographers have a better shot of proving their copyrights if they have registered their work with the Copyright Office first.

All creative works are protected by copyright automatically, but lawyers routinely advise photographers to register all their work with the Copyright Office anyway. Batch registrations are possible by mailing CDs of digital images.

The copyright has been testing a new electronic registration system since last year. When complete, it promises to make registration faster and less expensive.

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