Generally, it is misunderstood that one must file a copyright with the Copyright Office to secure a copyright. While acquiring a registration has its advantages, it is not necessary to register with the Copyright Office to secure rights. In contrast, under common law, a copyright is created automatically when it is fixed in tangible form for the first time. As long as it is an original work of authorship, you can claim ownership and protection and even place a copyright notice, including the “small c circled” symbol, on the particular work. Although a notice is no longer required, if one wishes to use it, it is important to follow the convention of using the © symbol followed by the year of first publication of the work followed by the copyright owner and the work.
While creating and maintaining common law copyright protection is beneficial, the Copyright Act, a federal statute, provides additional benefits and protective rights to an owner. The most commonly recognized rights are the ability to sue in federal court, the ability to recover legal damages of up to $ 150,000.00 for willful infringement, and the ability to recover attorneys’ fees. However, to receive these benefits, copyrights must be registered with the Library of Congress Copyright Office. While the timing of the application for registration may affect what legal damages are available, one must receive registration or be denied registration in order to proceed with an infringement lawsuit in federal court. Therefore, for a relatively small price, it is advisable to request the registration of all original works of authorship at the time of publication of the work or before it. Additionally, creating a public registry of claimed work, establishing prima facia evidence of validity, and other benefits make the cost of the registry worthwhile. With the ability to use online submission, there is no excuse for not registering the copyright of any type of work, including literary works, musical works, dramatic works, pantomimes and choreographic works, pictorial graphic and sculptural works, cinematographic films and other types of audio. -Visual works, sound recorders and architectural works.
Ultimately, people must remember that as soon as an original work of authorship is fixed in tangible form and published, a copyright exists. However, under statutory law, and in practice, having a copyright registration with the Copyright Office will provide additional benefits and advantages should the need for enforcement arise.