NAR Opposes Copyright Office Fee Increases
Issue Date: May 07, 2026
The U.S. Copyright Office recently sought public comment on proposed increases to copyright registration fees. NAR submitted comments opposing the proposal and also joined a broader content creator coalition, called the Copyright Alliance, urging modernization of the copyright registration system as a more effective way to reduce costs.
Copyright registration is required to enforce intellectual property rights in federal court, including access to statutory damages and attorneys’ fees. For real estate professionals, registration is a critical tool for protecting listing content, photographs, and MLS databases. Without registration, stopping large‑scale copying, scraping, or misuse of real estate content is even more difficult.
While supporting reasonable cost recovery for a modern and efficient Copyright Office, NAR and the coalition opposed further fee increases without adequate justification. Instead, we urged modernization of the registration process—particularly expanded electronic filing—as a more effective way to control costs for both filers and the Office. Modernization, rather than repeated fee increases, would improve efficiency while preserving broad access to copyright registration across industries.
In addition to the coalition’s comments, NAR focused on the proposed increase in MLS database registration fees, which follows a steep increase imposed in 2020. According to NAR’s analysis, higher fees have corresponded with fewer MLS registrations over time—an outcome that runs counter to the goals of the copyright system. MLSs, in particular, operate on tight margins in highly competitive markets and are facing disproportionate pressure from large‑scale data scraping and AI‑driven misuse.
NAR will continue advocating for real estate professionals, their businesses, and MLSs by supporting strong copyright protections, modernization of the Copyright Office, and reasonable registration fees so real estate content creators can protect and enforce their work effectively.