Copyright protects “original works of authorship.” This can be anything from written works to musical and artistic creations, and even computer programs and architectural plans. Copyright is important for any entrepreneur who creates content or uses content created by someone else.
Copyright gives the rights owner the exclusive right to do certain things or give others permission to do those things, including:
- Make copies or derivates of the work
- Distribute the work
- Perform the work
- Display the work
What is not protected by copyright?
Copyright does not protect titles, names, short phrases, slogans, symbols or designs, colors, lists of ingredients, or tables of content. Some of these items, especially names, slogans, and symbols or designs, may be protectable under trademark law.
Copyright also does not apply to ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices. Outside of trade secrets and contractual confidentiality and non-disclosure obligations, the law generally does not protect ideas.
Who owns the copyright?
All of the rights associated with copyright automatically belong to the author of the work from the moment the work is created in a fixed form. Generally, when an employee creates a work, the employer is considered the author.
If copyright protection is automatic, why register?
Without a copyright registration, you cannot sue someone for copyright infringement, regardless of your “poor man’s copyright” (a legal fiction, by the way) and regardless of any other proof you have that you are the copyright owner. If your work is worth more than the copyright registration fee, then you should register your copyright.
If you register your copyright within five years of publication of your work, then the burden is no longer on you to prove you are the author or creator of the work. That burden shifts to the defendant to attempt to prove the negative, i.e., that you are not the copyright owner. (Good luck with that.)
And if you register your copyright within three months of publication or prior to any copyright infringement, then you are entitled to statutory damages (generally, $750 – $30,000 per work) and attorney’s fees. If you can show that the infringement was “willful,” then the court can award up to $150,000. Without timely registration, however, you would have to prove the actual amount of your damages and profits earned by the infringer, which can be quite difficult since the infringer isn’t likely to have kept any records of their earnings. And without the ability to recover your attorney’s fees, you might find yourself considering litigation that costs more than you can recover in damages.
Final Thought: Use the Copyright Notice ©
Even if you don’t register your copyright, you should still use a copyright notice on your work. Technically, notice is not required under U.S. law, but it puts the general public on notice of several important facts, including (a) that the work is protected by copyright, (b) who the copyright owner is, and (c) the year the work was first published. Unlike the registered trademark symbol ®, use of © does not require copyright registration.
