Securing Your Copyright

When you act to publish your original authorship, the state(s) you publish in will automatically grant your original work 'common law' (or state) copyright protection. However, should you need to enforce those rights, you will need to file a lawsuit in the appropriate court within that state. This can be very restrictive and may present jurisdictional issues. A major benefit in obtaining a U.S. Copyright Registration on your works is that you can now avail yourself of the Federal court system which is less restrictive. 

Without a U.S. Copyright, it can oftentimes be very difficult to prove the damages. Another major benefit in obtaining a U.S. Copyright Registration is that damages are now statutory. 

Statutory damages are damages that can be awarded by a judge or jury to a copyright owner in a copyright infringement suit. The range of damages is established by the Copyright Act and are usually between $750 and $30,000 per work. However, the damage amount can be increased up to $150,000 per work if the infringement is found to be wilful or intentional. 

A U.S. Copyright is enforceable for the lifetime of the original author plus an additional 70 years following the death of the author. 

Having a Copyright Registration entitles you to a registration number. With the appropriate copyright disclaimer on your original work, the majority of plagiarists will be deterred against copying or stealing your original and protected work. 

It may become desirable to transfer an ownership interest in a copyright from the author to another individual or business entity. Having your copyright registered will make it infinitely easier to transfer or assign copyright rights from the author to another party or entity.