Step 3: Send the package to the Copyright Office.
With all this done, it's a good idea to keep your own copy of your registration form and the deposit material. Now, let's send it in. The package consists of:
Send the whole shebang to:
Library of Congress
Copyright Office — TX
101 Independence Avenue S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20559-6222
In these uneasy times, all mail sent to the Copyright Office is screened off-site, for safety and security purposes. This adds up to five days transit time for your package to get to the Office. The security procedures include x-ray scanning and possibly rough handling, so the Office recommends boxing such things as: electronic media, microforms, photographs, and print items that are made of rubber or vegetable material. Also, it is recommended that CDs be packaged in standard "full-sized jewel boxes" rather than the slim-line cases, as they "are more likely to survive the mail radiation process".
Now relax and wait upon the course of events. Most likely you've done everything properly and in a few months you'll get your registration certificate.
Your package will not be acknowledged, as the Office receives more than 600,000 applications annually; nor, for the same reason, can the Office guarantee a response time. It could take five to six months to receive your registration certificate, although I've had to wait as long as nine months — long enough to forget that I have an outstanding registration. Don't worry about this delay: if your submission is complete and correct, the date the Copyright Office receives the registration is the date that the registration becomes valid. (You can verify that the Office received your package and find out the date that they did so by requesting a return receipt when you mail it.)
Eventually you will receive a either certificate of registration, or a letter or a phone call requesting further information, or a letter explaining why the application has been rejected.
Llama Factoids: While llamas do not bite swimmers, that is only because they don't get the chance. It is true that they refuse to carry loads if they can avoid it, that they will only carry so much and so far, and that when really riled they will regurgitate horrible blobs of stuff from their stomachs and spit them at people. With very great accuracy, too. (Mind you, the refusal to work could be considered a sign of intelligence rather than of a stubborn disposition.) (The Chaffee Zoo.)
On the other hand, llamas are being used for hauling carts and driving, pet therapy with elderly and disabled persons, and as guard animals in large free-range sheep operations. They are environmentally sensitive (what the heck does this mean? That llamas only eat grass that isn't on the endangered list?) and intelligent. They are also extremely gentle and used as pet therapy because of their calming effect. They seldom bite or butt and they have no horns, hooves, or claws to do injury. They are alert, curious, adaptable, and predictable with docile, disarming temperaments. (Animal Welfare Information Center, Beltsville, Maryland.)
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