Copyright powers 12% of U.S. economic output in creative and related sectors, and yet the mechanics of copyright registration have not been seriously studied. Although copyright protection is currently automatic, registration with the U.S. Copyright Office is needed to be able to effectively protect a copyrighted work, and unless the Copyright Office has examined the applications for an infringement lawsuit cannot be commenced. Like the Patent and Trademark Office, the Copyright Office examines registrations, and does not simply grant them as a matter of course. However, while the Patent and Trademark Office provides extensive data on examination, the Copyright Office provides next to no data on the examination process. In this data vacuum it is frequently assumed that copyright registration is essentially automatic. In this paper I will show that is incorrect, especially for some types of works, provide both a narrative and statistical account of copyright examination, and propose a new paradigm for examination focused on where substantive rejections actually occur.