Online copyright registration - Upload notes

1. How long does it take to upload files? 

   This will mostly depend on your Internet connection, and may also vary due to the time of day. You should also understand that uploading files is normally much slower than downloading, (see note about broadband speeds below).

   For a typical broadband connection, uploads normally take around one minute per megabyte.

1. Multiple files 

   If you have a large number of smaller files, we do suggest that you use an archiving program such as WinZip, StuffIt or Tar to convert your files to a single archive. This will decrease overall size and simplify your upload.

   For works such as websites and software applications, which often span multiple directories, this is especially important, and as this will also preserve the directory structure of the files.

2. Power management settings 

   Ensure that any power management options you have set will not interfere with your upload. Uploading files is not recognised as activity and your computer’s power management system may take your system to standby or hibernation, if this happens, the upload will stop and cause the session to timeout.

   You can avoid this situation by ensuring that neither standby or hibernate will be entered during the upload time.

3. Dial-up connections 

   If you are on a dial-up connection, it is best to start uploading soon after you dial up, as some providers have a time limit on connections.

4. Audio Files 

   If you are uploading audio files, there is an audio files advice page with tips for uploading these types of files.

Our systems have a 2GB (2048MB) limit per file as uploads over 2GB are beyond the capabilities of current Internet browsers. Please note that this is per file limit only, and registrations containing data over 2GB can be achieved by uploading several files within a single registration.

We have checked the performance of various browsers and all web browsers we tested failed to upload files larger than 2GB, though most could upload up to that size. The table below shows the apparent limits of each of these browsers. Please do not attempt to upload files greater than the indicated maximum for your browser, as attempts to upload larger files will fail.

Some browsers will take a long time to start the upload, and many browsers appear to cache the data before transmission. As a result you may experience a significant decrease in the performance of your system during large uploads.

At these larger sizes, uploads are likely to take some considerable time, (i.e. several hours), to monitor progress, you may want to check your network activity to see how much data your computer is sending.

If you have files which are above 2GB you should split your files into smaller chunks before uploading (perhaps using an archiving program like WinRar or Rar or the Split utility on Unix systems).

As mentioned below most Internet links are ‘asymmetric’ and have limited upload capacity; typically about 1MB per minute. If you have a large amount of data (i.e. 500MB and over) to submit, then unless you have a T1 link (or similar) you may find it easier to submit your work on DVD with a postal application form.

1. Security of payment details

   Card details are sent to our payment service providers over highly secure 256bit encrypted direct connections. Card details are not held locally with the UK Copyright Service, and are never stored or transmitted in a unencrypted format. Our payment service providers are also regularly audited by Visa and MasterCard to ensure that their systems conform to the latest security standards.

2. Upload security

   When you upload files, you are uploading directly to our servers over an 256bit encrypted, secure connection, so the security and integrity of the files you transmit is assured.

3. Security of other data and information

   All data you enter is transmitted over a 256bit encrypted, secure connection, that directly connects your computer to and one of our servers.

   Our servers are self hosted, so we do not rely on any third party to store or transmit your personal data. This provides absolute security for the data you transfer, and ensures that only authorised personnel have access to your data after upload.

Your Internet provider will typically quote figures like 8Mbps when they are selling their product. This does not mean that you can upload at that speed. Most domestic and commercial broadband users will have an asymmetric link, (the ‘A‘ in ADSL stands for ‘asymmetric’), with the download speed being much faster than the upload speed. In our experience, most broadband connections have an upload speed of between 128Kbps and 512Kbps.