Acting as authorised agent

Registering on behalf of the copyright owner

Some copyright owners will prefer their solicitor, publisher, recording company or agent to deal with copyright registration for them. It is quite common, particularly among solicitors, for an individual or company to act as authorised agent and register work on behalf of someone else.

If you are acting as authorised agent, there are two ways that application forms can be completed depending on if you wish the account holder to be you (the authorised agent) or the copyright owner.

Copyright owner as account holder

Use this option if your role is only to submit the work for registration and you wish the copyright owner to received all correspondence, future communications and notifications.

1. To do this you should:

   Complete the first part of the form ‘contact details of the person registering the work’ with the copyright owner’s name and contact details.

   If using a postal form, either sign and date the form yourself or ask the copyright owner to do so.

2. The following will happen:

   If the copyright owner does not already have an account, an account will be set up for them.

   All correspondence relating to the registration (certificates, invoice*, etc.) will be sent to the copyright owner directly.

   Future communications and notifications will be sent to the copyright owner directly.

Agent as account holder

Use this option if your role is to manage the account on an ongoing basis and you wish all correspondence (including invoices) to be sent to you.

1. To do this you should:

   Complete the first part of the form ‘contact details of the person registering the work’ with your (the authorised agent’s) name and contact details.

   If using a postal form, sign and date the form yourself .

2. The following will happen:

   If you (the authorised agent) are not already a client, an account will be set up for you.

   All correspondence relating to the registration (certificates, invoice*, etc.) will be sent to you (the authorised agent) directly.

   Any future communications and notifications will also be sent to you directly.

3. Responsibilities:

   As you are the account holder all correspondence will be sent to you. It is your responsibility to pass on registration certificates and pertinent information to your clients (the copyright owners) where required. You may wish to include a management fee in the price you charge your clients to cover your time and expenses.

4. Advantages

   You can manage the works registered for all your clients though a single account.

   If you pay for the registration, the invoice will be sent directly to you, so you can include the registration costs into your own invoice for other services (it is up to you how you invoice the copyright owner).

5. Disadvantages

   If your client (the copyright owner) later wishes to remove the registration from your account into another account (i.e. if they get another agent to deal with registration or wish to manage this themselves) this would require a registration transfer. There is a administration fee for the registration transfers (currently £20.00).

Notes

• Invoicing* If the party that pays for the registration is not the account holder, the person who made payment will also be sent notification and/or invoice for the payment.
• Regardless of who the account holder is, in the part of the form referring to the work being registered. (section 3 on postal forms, part 2 of the online registration process) the actual copyright owner’s name should always be entered in the ‘copyright owner’ field.