Bloomberg Law Interviews Garretson About Copyright Fees

Bloomberg Law talked to Shook Partner and copyright lawyer John Garretson for “Photographers Shutter at Plan to Boost Copyright Fees,” a discussion of a proposal from the U.S. Copyright Office to increase registration fees on several services, including registering images for freelance photographers. The proposal has sparked a debate on the need for raising the fees and the impact on freelancers.

Garretson told Bloomberg Law that the agency has good reasons for raising the fees. “The Copyright Office does a pretty good job of laying out the rationale for its proposed fees,” Garretson said. He pointed out the slow growth of the basic registration fee, which was $20 in 1991.

“If you look at the sweep of history, it doesn’t seem like an unreasonable increase,” he said.