Visual Artists Copyright Reform Act

Summary#

The Visual Artists Copyright Reform Act of 2026 (VACRA) would amend the U.S. Copyright Act, Title 17; it would not create a separate law or agency. Its stated goal is to reform copyright laws relating to visual artists. The bill has been introduced and referred to the House Judiciary Committee, so it is not law and passage is uncertain.

  • The Copyright Office would have to create rules for certifying photograph registries run by third parties. Depositing a photograph in a qualifying registry would satisfy the registration deposit requirement, unless the Register of Copyrights certifies that the Copyright Office meets a specified interface requirement.
  • Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works would be exempt from the separate deposit requirement in section 407. For registration, however, the bill requires one complete electronic copy.
  • The Register would have to allow one registration for up to 3,000 photographs by the same individual author, with one application and fee. The rules must allow different quantity tiers and registration regardless of publication or creation dates; the cap must increase as technology allows more efficient registration.
  • The Register would have to establish deferred registration and yearly or periodic subscription options. The bill also requires reduced fees for individual authors and small businesses.
  • The Copyright Office would have to create and maintain a public-facing registration interface that works with software commonly used by professional creators.

What it means for you#

  • Visual artists and other creators: If you register a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work, you would submit a complete electronic copy. The bill would remove the separate section 407 deposit requirement for those works; it does not remove the registration deposit requirement.
  • Photographers: You could use a certified third-party registry for registration deposits. A single group registration could cover up to 3,000 photographs by the same individual author, subject to rules the Register must make.
  • Authors and copyright owners: You could ask a registry to transfer a photograph and its related information to another registry. Certified registries would have to maintain copies and specified information, offer a secure searchable database with no search charge, and connect their systems with the Copyright Office without charge.
  • Applicants using deferred registration: You would submit an application, fee, and deposit. The submission date would be the effective date of registration. An owner could later pay to request examination of the work.
  • Individual authors and small businesses: The Register would have to provide reduced fees, but the bill does not set the reduced amounts. It does not directly change copyright ownership or create a new front-line service.

Money#

No publicly available information. The supplied material gives no estimate of public costs.

  • The bill would require new rules, a registration interface, and work on registry certification and connections with the Copyright Office. It gives no staffing, funding, or cost estimate.
  • The deferred-registration fee could not exceed half the standard application fee. The Register would have to offer reduced fees to individual authors and small businesses, but the amounts are unknown.
  • A subscription would allow an applicant to file covered applications during its term without an additional application fee. The subscription prices are not stated.

What is unclear#

  • The bill does not set out the certification rules, including the detailed standards for security, searches, or timely transfers.
  • It does not explain how deferred applications would be handled if a later examination finds a work ineligible for registration.
  • The bill changes an information requirement in section 409(a)(8), but the supplied material does not include the current text of that requirement. Its precise effect therefore cannot be verified here.
  • The supplied material does not include the current Title 17 text, so the existing procedures and fees—and the full extent of the changes to them—could not be checked.
  • The bill does not give a general start date. Some rules must be issued within 180 days after enactment.

Case for#

  • The bill appears intended to make registration easier for creators who produce many photographs or other visual works.
  • Group registration, deferred registration, and subscriptions could give creators more ways to submit work and pay fees.
  • Third-party registries could provide another route for storing and submitting photograph deposits, while required connections would link those registries to the Copyright Office.
  • A more compatible online interface could make it easier to transfer application information from creators’ existing software.

Case against#

  • The bill requires long-term storage of photographs and related information, but does not estimate the cost or explain how registry operations would be overseen.
  • The Register would have to establish many important details later, including registry standards, group-registration tiers, and subscription fees.
  • The bill does not explain how the third-party registry option would interact with other registration processes beyond its deposit rule.
  • Deferred registration would take effect on submission, before the later examination that an owner may request. The bill does not explain what happens if that examination does not support registration.