Registering music copyright in the US: SR vs PA, group options and fees

Copyright in a song exists the moment it is fixed, but in the US registration is what lets you use it properly in a dispute. Under 17 U.S.C. § 412, statutory damages and attorney's fees are generally only available if the work was registered before the infringement began, or within three months of first publication. This guide covers the part people find confusing: what exactly you are registering, which application to use, and what it costs. It is not legal advice, and the details are as we read them on 24 Oct 2026.

If you are in India, see our step-by-step guide to registering a song in India. If AI was involved in making the track, read registering an AI-assisted song first.

Two works, not one

The Copyright Office's Circular 56A starts from one principle: "Sound recordings and musical compositions are considered two separate works for copyright purposes."

• The musical composition is the music (melody, rhythm, harmony) and any lyrics. Its authors are composers, lyricists and songwriters.
• The sound recording is a fixation of a series of sounds, such as a particular performance. Its authors are the performers, producers and sound engineers.

A registration for one does not cover the other. The Circular's example is the composition "Respect" and Aretha Franklin's recording of it: two distinct works. The rights differ too. The Circular's chart shows a composition owner can perform the work publicly in general, while a sound recording owner has that right "only by means of a digital audio transmission".

SR vs PA: what the letters mean

Form PA (performing arts) and Form SR (sound recordings) are the Office's paper forms. Most people now file online, where you choose a "type of work" instead of a form letter. The logic carries over:

• Registering only a composition (you wrote it, someone else recorded it) is the PA-type claim. The Circular says the songwriter or publisher "would submit an application for the musical composition only".
• Registering only a recording (you performed and recorded someone else's song) is the SR-type claim, covering the recording only.
• Registering both at once goes through the sound recording route. Circular 56A tells online filers who are claiming both to select the "Sound Recording" option on the Type of Work screen, and warns that choosing the wrong option means starting over.

When one application covers both

Circular 56A says you may use one Standard Application for a sound recording and its underlying composition when two conditions are met:

1. the composition and recording are embodied in the same phonorecord, and
2. the claimant for both is the same.

So a songwriter who records their own song, or a record company that owns both the song and the recording, can file once. An artist covering someone else's song cannot. The Circular also says applicants "may always choose" to register the two on separate applications.

The cheaper Single Application can cover one recording plus its composition, but only if the author is the only performer featured on the recording and the only owner of both works, per the same Circular. Its fee line on the fees page reads "Single author, same claimant, one work, not for hire".

Group options

Two group registrations matter most for musicians.

GRAM (works on an album). The GRAM page describes two separate applications: one for musical works published on the same album, and one that "may be used to register two to twenty sound recordings", along with photographs, artwork or liner notes first published with the same album.

GRUW (unpublished works). The GRUW page says it "may be used to register up to ten unpublished works for a single fee." The page links to a separate document with the full eligibility rules, so read that before you file; we have not summarised conditions here that we could not confirm on the page itself.

Fees, now and from November

Current electronic fees, from the Office's fees page:

The Office's proposed fee schedule lists GRAM at $65 for each of its two applications today, and sets new prices: the Single Application to $55, the Standard Application and GRAM for musical works to $85, GRAM for sound recordings to $130, GRUW to $130 and paper filing to $185. Our news report on the fee change explains why 11 November 2026 is the earliest date this can happen, not a confirmed one.

What we think

The two-works rule is the single most useful thing to understand here, and it changes how you should spend. If you write and record your own music and own both outright, one application per release covers the song and the recording, which is the simplest position an independent artist can be in. The moment a co-writer, a label or a cover enters the picture, assume you need separate claims and check who the claimant is before you pay anything.

On the group options, our reading of the proposed schedule is that it narrows the gap between them in an awkward way for recording artists: GRAM for sound recordings doubles, while GRUW rises by roughly half. That is an inference from the published numbers, not Office guidance. Whether registering unreleased tracks in batches or registering albums after release suits you depends on your release pattern and on the GRUW eligibility rules, which we would read in full before relying on either. And whichever you choose, the timing rule in § 412 is the reason not to leave registration until there is a problem.