Copyright Witness provide a convenient facility to add updated content to your copyright registration as your work evolves.

When should an update be used?

An update should be used if you have already registered a work, but the work has significantly changed since registration.

How do registration updates work?

Each registration update is a separate deposit of evidence, with its own date and chain of custody, that is linked to the main registration.

The date and content of the initial registration deposit remains on record and the registration date and expiry date remain unchanged, (although you may change the title of the registration as part of an update).

Once processing is complete, your registration certificate will be re-issued with any changes and you will also receive a schedule of revision that details the date and description of each update.

What are the advantages?

Because new versions (updates) can be added without the need for separate registration, there are several advantages:

• Easy to manage:

  Using the update facility you only have one registration per work regardless of how much it changes.

• Reduced cost:

  Updates are much cheaper than new registrations and, at the end of the registration period, you only have one registration to renew to continue cover for the work.

• Proof of evolution of your work:

  As each deposit is individually recorded, from the point of registration through to the last update, a full record of the evolution of the work is available if you ever need to prove your claim in a dispute.

Is there a fee for processing updates?

Yes. We must treat every submission as a separate item of evidence with its own chain of custody, and process it accordingly. There is always a processing fee, although updates are much cheaper that new registrations. Additionally, the financial transaction itself leaves its own audit trail and provides another layer of verifiable evidence.

The current update fees are:

• Online registration updates

  The current charge for updates via our online upload facility is £17.00 per work. Uploads over 10MB are also subject to a fee of 3p per additional MB, but there is no limit to the amount of data you may upload within the update.

• Registration updates via postal application

  The administration charge for postal updates is £24.00 per work.

  Media types that involve additional processing will also incur an additional fee to cover the extra time involved in processing these types of works. Please see our registration format pages for details on all registration formats.

Notes

An update can only be made to a work that is already registered. If your work has not been registered, or for new work not related to an existing registration, please register via the copyright registration facility.

The online update facility as well as postal update forms can be accessed via the copyright registration update pages of this site.