Accepted media (postal applications)

When registering copyright using a postal application form (F-01) or updating an existing copyright registration using postal form F-08, ensure that you send you work in an acceptable format. Extra charges may apply for media types not recommended

Recommended formats

Recommended formats are all covered in the standard fees with no extra cost:

  • CD/DVD/BD/USB Flash Drive/USB SSD, up to 10GB (10240MB) of data.
  • Paper documents, photographs, transparencies, fabrics or prints up to 20 pages of A4/Letter/Foolscap size.

    Wherever possible, single side printing, unbound documents are preferred.

Formats requiring an additional processing fee

These items incur an extra fee to cover additional data back-up cost and administration time:

  • Paper documents over 20 pages:
    A £5 GBP processing fee will apply for each 100 pages (or part thereof) over 20 pages.
    i.e. for 21-120 pages add £5, for 121-220 pages add £10, for 221-320 pages add £15, etc.
     
  • Documents over A4/Letter size:
    A £5 GBP processing fee is added to cover the additional processing requirements of larger formats.
     
  • Data over 10GB on CD/DVD/Blu-ray disc/USB Flash drive/USB SSD:
    Where the total electronic data in a submission exceeds 10GB, a £10 GBP processing fee will apply for each 10GB (or part thereof) over 10GB.
    i.e. for 10-20GB add £10, for 20-30GB add £20, etc.

The preferred formats for postal submissions are CD, DVD or USB drive.

Not accepted

The following media types are not/no longer accepted.

  • Video tapes
  • Floppy disc,
  • Cassette or DAT tapes,
  • Paper documents larger than A3 size (10 pages maximum at A3 size),
  • Zip or Jaz drive,
  • Negatives or film reels,
  • Mini-Disc,
  • Vinyl.

What format to choose?

Copyright exists in your work regardless of format, so the format that you use to register the work will not make a difference to copyright, it will only impact registration fees and personal convenience.

CD, DVD or USB drive format is preferred where possible.

CD, DVD or USB flash drive is normally the best option for registration as it provides generous storage for most works, is light and compact, (and therefore cheaper to post), and as it is a convenient format for our administrators to work with it will also speed up the processing of your application.

If you have any questions or are unsure how to register your item, please consult our page dealing with formats that are known to cause confusion, which has further information on registration formats and how to contact our advisors.

The postal registration form

The postal registration application form can either be completed online, or downloaded in a PDF format for later printing.

Complete the application form online.

Download application form F-01 in a PDF format to complete by hand.