Group Registration of Unpublished Works (GRUW)

What GRUW is

GRUW is a group registration option from the U.S. Copyright Office. It lets an applicant register several unpublished works with one application and one fee. The Office introduced it on 15 March 2019, and it replaced the earlier practice of registering an “unpublished collection.”

The rules are in 37 CFR 202.4(c). The Office examines each work in the group separately. It does not register a claim in the selection or arrangement of the group as a whole.

Who can use it

A group has to meet all of these conditions (37 CFR 202.4(c); Copyright Office GRUW FAQ):

• Number of works: at least two and up to ten in one application.
• Unpublished only: every work must be unpublished. Published and unpublished works cannot be mixed.
• Same class: all works must be registered in the same class of work, such as literary works or visual-art works.
• Same author: all works must be created by the same author or the same joint authors.
• Not eligible: compilations, collective works, databases and websites.

Fee: today and proposed

The fee for a claim in a group of unpublished works is $85 (Copyright Office fee schedule, checked 26 October 2026). The fee is non-refundable. The Standard Application costs $65.

The Office has proposed a new fee schedule. Its Federal Register notice of 20 March 2026 proposed $130 for GRUW and $85 for the Standard Application. The Office sent a final proposal to Congress in July 2026. The new fees can start 120 days after submission unless Congress disapproves, and the Office says it aims to start them in fall 2026. The July schedule may differ from the March figures, so check the fee page on the day you file.

How to file

1. Open the Electronic Copyright Office (eCO) registration portal and choose the application designated for a group of unpublished works (37 CFR 202.4(c)(8)). Do not choose the Standard Application.
2. Enter the author and claimant information once for the group. The author or authors must be named as claimants.
3. Enter a title for each work, one at a time. Do not enter a title for the group as a whole. The Office removes it and adds its own group title.
4. Pay the filing fee.
5. Upload one complete electronic copy of each work, each in its own file.

Titles, authors and claimants

Each work in the group needs its own title (37 CFR 202.4(c)(4)). If a work has no title, the Copyright Office says to give it a descriptive title that names its general subject, such as “Yellow work” or “Blue work.”

The author or authors must be named as claimant for every work, even if they transferred their rights. A person who received the rights can be named as claimant only in a narrow case: when that third party owns all exclusive rights in a work. That work then needs its own Standard Application, filing fee and deposit (Copyright Office author and claimant help page).

The Office keeps registration information on the public record. Enter only what you are willing to make public.

Files and common mistakes

• Upload each work as its own electronic file. Do not combine works in one PDF. The Office may refuse the registration if works share a file or arrive in physical form.
• Upload a work with several pages as one file, not page by page.
• Do not use the Standard Application to register two or more unpublished works. Do not file the same work in both a group application and a Standard Application.
• Do not mix published and unpublished works in one application.
• Check that every fact in the application is accurate. A certificate with inaccurate information can be challenged if the inaccuracy was knowingly included and would have led the Register of Copyrights to refuse registration (17 U.S.C. 411(b)).