You have copyright rights that you probably don’t know about!
Copyright Protection Is Available for Original Works of Authorship
Have you written a book or coded software? Are you a publisher?
Have you created fashion, graphic or web designs? Are you a photographer? Perhaps an artist!
If so, you should know all the benefits of Federal copyright registration. Registration is so much more than just putting a copyright notice on your work. Registration can be made at the state level in Georgia but it is the Federal registration that provides the most benefits.
Benefits of Federal Copyright Registration
There are many benefits to registering your work with the U.S. Copyright Office. Some of them include:
- establishing a public record for your work and a future copyright claim;
- giving you the opportunity to recover statutory money damages if your work is infringed. Otherwise, you will have to prove actual damages, which can be difficult. Second, actual damages are often not high enough to justify a suit; and
- registration is required before an infringement suit can be filed in Federal court for U.S. works.
The registration process is not always as straightforward as, say, when an author has written a novel. For example, sometimes the copyright claimant is not the creator of the work, or is a joint author, or has received ownership of the copyright via assignment. There also are special rules if your employee created the work for the benefit of your company. These different situations need to be examined before any registration is made.
The type of work (i.e. literary or visual art) also matters.
Flat fee packages are available for many registrations. FREE estimates are available for all registrations.
Contact Bob Sauro at 404.885.5223 and visit us at www.plessandsauro.com/blog for more helpful tips. We also handle copyright assignments and licenses, work-for-hire agreements and joint author agreements.