To copyright a logo, you register the design with the U.S. Copyright Office through its online eCO system, uploading a digital image of the artwork and paying either the $45 or $65 filing fee. Protection itself attaches the moment you fix an original design in tangible form, but registration is what lets you sue an infringer and go after meaningful damages.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 411 – Registration and Civil Infringement Actions Before you file, three things need to be true: the design clears the originality threshold, you actually own it, and you understand what registration does and doesn’t cover.
Does Your Logo Qualify for Copyright
Copyright protects “original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression,” and logos sit inside the pictorial and graphic works category.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 102 – Subject Matter of Copyright In General Originality means you created it rather than copied it, and it carries at least a small spark of creativity. Fixation just means it exists somewhere lasting: a digital file, a printout, a sketch.
The creativity bar is low, but it is real. The Copyright Office will not register simple geometric shapes like circles, squares, or triangles no matter how they are arranged, and it turns away familiar symbols, standard typefaces, and mere variations in lettering or coloring.3U.S. Copyright Office. What is Copyright A company name typed out in Helvetica with nothing else going on will not qualify. Add an original illustration, a distinctive arrangement of graphic elements, or a creatively stylized wordmark, and you are almost certainly past the threshold. The Office’s own guidance notes that “the vast majority of works make the grade quite easily.”4U.S. Copyright Office. Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Chapter 300 – Copyrightable Authorship What Can Be Registered
One limit worth knowing: copyright does not protect the idea behind the logo. If your concept is a swoosh that suggests speed, someone else can independently draw their own speed-inspired swoosh. What copyright covers is the specific expression on the page.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 102 – Subject Matter of Copyright In General
Make Sure You Actually Own the Logo
This is where many businesses stumble. The person who creates a logo is the default copyright owner, not the person who paid for it. If you hired a freelance designer, that designer owns the copyright unless the right paperwork is in place.
Two mechanisms shift ownership to the hiring party. When an employee creates a logo within the scope of their job, the employer automatically owns the copyright as a work made for hire, and no written agreement is needed.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 201 – Ownership of Copyright A commissioned work from an independent contractor is different. It qualifies as work for hire only if it falls within one of nine specific categories in the statute (translations, atlases, tests, contributions to collective works, and a handful of others) and both parties sign a written agreement before work begins saying so. A standalone logo typically does not fit any of those categories.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 101 – Definitions
Because that route rarely works for commissioned logos, the safer approach is a written copyright assignment. Federal law requires any transfer of copyright ownership to be in writing and signed by the person transferring the rights.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 204 – Execution of Transfers of Copyright Ownership A handshake or an email saying “it’s all yours” is not enough. If your designer contract does not include a clear assignment clause, you could be paying for a logo you do not own, which means you cannot register it in your own name.
How to File Your Registration
Applications go through the Electronic Copyright Office (eCO), the Office’s online portal.8U.S. Copyright Office. Register Your Work Registration Portal The form asks for the title of the work, the author’s name, whether the work was made for hire, whether the logo has been published (and if so, the date of first publication), and who owns the copyright. You upload a deposit copy, which is a clear digital image showing the entire design.
Fees
A single-author application (one author, same claimant, one work, not made for hire) costs $45. A standard application, which covers everything else, costs $65.9U.S. Copyright Office. Fees Fees are non-refundable even if the application is denied.
How Long It Takes
Processing times vary. As of mid-2025, the Copyright Office reports an overall average of about 2.5 months. Straightforward electronic filings without complications average around 1.9 months, while applications that require correspondence stretch to 3.7 months or longer. Paper filings average over 4 months even without issues.10U.S. Copyright Office. Registration Processing Times
Expedited Processing
If you need a certificate quickly, the Office offers special handling for $800.9U.S. Copyright Office. Fees It is not open to everyone. You have to show a qualifying urgency: pending or prospective litigation, a customs matter, or a contract or publishing deadline that requires the certificate.11U.S. Copyright Office. Circular 10 Special Handling Wanting it faster is not enough.
Why Registering Early Is Worth the Effort
You cannot sue anyone for infringement of a U.S. work until you have either obtained a registration or had your application refused.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 411 – Registration and Civil Infringement Actions No registration, no lawsuit. That alone is a reason to file.
Timing matters even more than the filing itself. If your logo was registered before the infringement started, or within three months of publication, you can pursue statutory damages and attorney’s fees in court.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 412 – Registration as Prerequisite to Certain Remedies for Infringement If you registered after the infringement began, you are limited to actual damages and any profits the infringer earned, both of which can be hard to prove.
The gap is large. Statutory damages run from $750 to $30,000 per work, and a court can push that to $150,000 if the infringement was willful.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 504 – Remedies for Infringement Damages and Profits A prevailing party can also ask the court to award reasonable attorney’s fees.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 505 – Remedies for Infringement Costs and Attorneys Fees Without early registration, you often end up paying your own legal bills to recover a number you struggle to prove. Register early.
Add a Copyright Notice
Copyright notice has been optional for works published on or after March 1, 1989, when the United States joined the Berne Convention.15U.S. Copyright Office. Circular 3 Copyright Notice Your logo is protected whether or not the © symbol appears. Adding one still helps.
A proper notice has three parts: the symbol © (or the word “Copyright”), the year of first publication, and the name of the owner, which can be the full legal name, a recognized abbreviation, or a well-known alternative designation.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 401 – Notice of Copyright Visually Perceptible Copies For example: © 2026 Acme Corp.
The payoff is straightforward. When a proper notice appears on copies the infringer had access to, that infringer cannot claim innocent infringement to reduce damages.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 401 – Notice of Copyright Visually Perceptible Copies Without a notice, a court could cut statutory damages to as little as $200 if the infringer convinces the judge they had no idea the work was protected.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 504 – Remedies for Infringement Damages and Profits A single line of text closes that door.
Copyright Is Not Trademark
Registering a copyright on your logo does not give you trademark rights, and the two protect different things. Copyright covers the artistic expression in the design and prevents unauthorized copying of the artwork. Trademark protects the logo’s role as a source identifier, keeping others from using a confusingly similar mark on related goods or services. Copyright eventually expires; trademark rights can continue as long as you keep using the mark in commerce and file the required maintenance documents. Copyright registration goes through the U.S. Copyright Office, while trademarks go through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
A logo protected only by copyright is vulnerable to a competitor using a similar (but not literally copied) design in the same industry. A trademarked logo without copyright registration leaves the artwork itself less protected against reproduction outside commerce. For a logo that carries real brand weight, pursuing both fills the gaps that either one leaves open.