I haven't received my certificate yet. What do I do?

If you haven't received a physical certificate yet, there could be a few possible reasons:

1. It's too soon - the entire registration process can take 6-10 months for both Cosynd and the Copyright Office to review your application, research any potential issues/conflicts that would result in denial, and approve your registration. If the examiner overseeing your application has any additional questions, it may cause delays that would place you towards the latter end of the timeline. Don't worry, we will stay with you for the life of your application and step in to assist if the Copyright Office needs more information. It's a pretty lengthy process, considering that registration is the legal basis for filing infringement lawsuits. Despite this, Cosynd processes applications faster than other similar third-party processors, where the current processing time is at minimum 11 months.  
   
   
2. Your application was incomplete or required clarification and we're currently waiting for a response from you. Requests for more information are made via email directly from [e-mail].
3. The Copyright Office closed your case and mailed your certificate, but you never received it. It's likely that your certificate is either in transit or was misplaced in the mail. It currently takes an additional 3-6 weeks for the Copyright Office to mail physical certificates once approved.
   
   
4. The Copyright Office denied your application and mailed a notice that was never received. For a list of possible reasons why your application could have been denied, click here.

If after an appropriate amount of time you still have not received your certificate, please submit a help ticket so that we can investigate the issue for you.

Why does this process take months? 

Cosynd’s registration service includes the preparation, review, e-filing, and handling of correspondence with the U.S. Copyright Office as needed for the life of the application (typically 6-10 months).  

Once you have submitted your application to Cosynd, it is reviewed, checked for potential errors, and a determination about the final application type that should be used for your filing is made. This is a critical part of the process - certain errors and misfiled applications can cause your application to be denied by the Copyright Office, which will not refund your federal filing fees. If we spot any errors or concerning issues, we will reach out to you several times over several months to resolve those issues before submitting the final application to the U.S. Copyright Office.  If you do not respond to our outreach efforts, we will provide a refund of the federal filing fees for your application.

The bulk of this process happens at the U.S. Copyright Office. Most people think that you are automatically granted your certificate of registration by the U.S. Copyright Office, which is not true. After your application is submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office, it is assigned to an examiner, who will independently assess whether or not your registration meets their standards for registration. The processing time depends entirely on the examiner's backlog and the amount of time they spend researching your application. That research can include reviewing your application, reviewing/listening to all of the materials you have uploaded, searching the Copyright Office's databases for potential conflicts, searching other publicly accessible sources for additional evidence, and requesting supporting evidence from you directly (such as digital or physical proof of the publication of your content). It also includes answering any questions the examiner may have in order to complete your registration or adjust it based on their research.