Copyright Registration Attorneys Can Help with the Process
When you invest time and money in developing creative works of art or authorship, make sure you take that extra step to protect what's yours. Copyright registration attorneys know the process involved in creating a copyrightable work, can advise you about the need for proper notice, and can help you determine which form to use, whether you should actually register your copyrighted work with the US Copyright Office, and if so, how to go about doing it.
Key Reasons to Use Copyright Registration
There are many different reasons why you should register your original creative content, e.g., books, articles, web content, video, blog posts). First, without a registered copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office (www.copyright.gov), you have little to no recourse if someone infringes your creative work. If your work is unprotected, while it may be possible (in very limited circumstances) to pursue legal action in the event of infringement, the cost of doing so is prohibitive. Whether you are initiating a copyright infringement lawsuit or defending one, if your work is unprotected, you have a steeper mountain to climb. Plus finding a lawyer who is willing to fight for you without the chance of getting paid, is even more unlikely. At least with a registered copyright, you may be entitled to attotneys fees.
Second, it is important to pursue copyright registration in a timely manner. That means, register your work within the first 3-months of publication. If you do so, you may become eligible to receive fees set by the government, what we call statutory damages. This could be of real benefit, as those fees range anywhere from $750 per infringement all the way up to $150,000 per infringement, if it's proven that the infringer intentionally and willfully infringed your work. Now isn't that a good reason to get that valuable creative content registered?
The significance of possibly being entitled to statutory damages is that you don't have to prove the exact amount of damages suffered. This is beneficial, since having to prove specific damages can be difficult, and sometimes the profits the infringer made from stealing your work are minimal.
Third, copyright registration is important because the Certificate of Registration will serve as solid evidence in the event of copyright infringement. It serves as hard copy proof that your creative work is indeed original and that it is legally owned by you, thus protected by copyright. It also provides you with the authority to forward a “cease and desist” letter to the person that infringed on your work. This usually encourages the person to immediately consent to the demand without you having to file a lawsuit.
The Internet: An Amazing Communication Tool!
The advent of the Internet, while a wonderful and advantagous communication tool, has created new issues for copyright owners. It has made access to creative content easy, and has also made content easy to create, easy to dissiminate, easy to display, and easy to reproduce. As a result, a lot of people that use the Internet to search for information think anything is available just for the taking. Because they lack the correct knowledge, they often inadvertently (or intentionally) break the copyright law, which governs creative works online. Many people are also under the false impression that the copyright laws do not apply when it comes to information on the Internet.
People often conclude that if copyright is not mentioned when they view a creative work or there is no copyright symbol on the work that they can use it for any purpose they want. The reality is that the work is in fact copyrighted regardless of whether the author mentions the copyright or not.
As a general rule, if something is on the Internet and you didn't create it, assume that someone else did. Assume that if someone else created it--you need permission to use it. Permission can come in the form of a license, a contract, public domain (no one owns it or the copyright has expired), or that your permission is granted through the fair ue exception.
To learn about how the law applies to your specific set of facts, consult with a copyright registration attorney to ensure you are protected in cyberspace.
