How are copyrights registered?
Copyright protection is immediately available to the author of an original work once it is set down in a tangible form without any further process. In order to file suit against a copyright infringer and collect monetary damages, however, formal registration of a work with the U.S. Copyright Office is necessary. Moreover, for an author to recover reasonable attorney’s fees associated with infringement litigation, the published work must have been registered before the alleged infringement. Registration requires submission of an application, a $20 filing fee and two copies of the work. (Registration of computer programs is slightly different, requiring only one copy of “identifying portions” of the program, usually the first 25 and last 25 pages of source code, as well as the code section containing the copyright notice. One copy of any user’s manual or other printed documentation should be included.
Copyright protection is immediately available to the author of an original work once it is set down in a tangible form without any further process. In order to file suit against a copyright infringer and collect monetary damages, however, formal registration of a work with the U.S. Copyright Office is necessary. Moreover, for an author to recover reasonable attorney’s fees associated with infringement litigation, the published work must have been registered before the alleged infringement. Registration requires submission of an application, a $20 filing fee and two copies of the work. (Registration of computer programs is slightly different, requiring only one copy of “identifying portions” of the program, usually the first 25 and last 25 pages of source code, as well as the code section containing the copyright notice.
