Blog Post Three

Artists (a term I use broadly here to generally describe someone who creates a copyrightable work) often ask whether they need to register their work with the U.S. Copyright Office. That is a loaded question. As an artist, you own the copyright associated with your original work when you put it in a fixed medium. For example, a photographer who takes a picture or an author who writes a story. Thus, the artist owns the copyright associated with the copyrightable work at the time of that creation.

The copyright owner’s rights are enhanced when the copyright owner registers the works with the Copyright Office. For example, if the copyright owner wants to take legal action against an infringer (i.e., a copycat), the copyright owner needs to register the copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office before filing a lawsuit. The copyright owner also can obtain greater compensation if he or she registered the work with the Copyright Office but before the work was copied by the infringer. As discussed here, the prior registration allows the copyright owner to elect between actual and statutory damages. In the prior registration also allows the copyright owner to potentially recover his or her attorney’s fees.

Most artists do not want to find themselves in federal court fighting a copyright infringement action. However, the force and threat of statutory damages and attorney’s fees can go a long way in persuading an infringer to make things right.