I sent the required two copies of my first book to the Library of Congress (to register my copyright) in March of last year. I followed that with two copies of my second book in June. The Library of Congress still shows both copyright registrations as "Open" (meaning incomplete), and a search of the LOC catalog doesn't come up with any hits when I search on my name. Okay, COVID-19 and everything, but how long does the Library of Congress usually take to open a package and check off that the mandatory deposit has been received?
You sent a physical package? Last time I did that (1998) it took about 3 months, not that that helps. Digital copies about the same, but it's been 10 years at least.
Well, yes, I did -- because as I read the criteria for digital submissions, I didn't think a printed, non-fiction book qualified for digital upload. From the LOC web site: I don't do exclusively e-books, so I don't think my books fall into any of the above categories.
I have my answer. Saturday's mail (February 19, 2022) brought the copyright certificate from the Library of Congress. Year of creation: 2021 Date of first publication: January 31, 2021 Effective date of registration: March 08, 2021 Registration decision date: January 22, 2022 So it's taking the Library of Congress more than ten MONTHS to process copyrights.