COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Recognize the procedures used to obtain a copyright and the rules that apply to the copyright owner.

Generally, copyright registration is a legal formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright. However, except in one specific situation, registration is not a condition of copyright protection. That exception is contained in sections 405 and 406 of the Copyright Act. The act provides that copyright registration may be required to preserve a copyright that would otherwise be invalidated because of the omission of the copyright notice from the published copies or phonorecords, omission of the name or date or a certain error in the year date.

Even though registration is not generally a requirement for protection, the copyright law provides several inducements or advantages to encourage copyright owners to register. Some of these advantages are as follows:

l Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim.

l Before an infringement suit maybe filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin and for foreign works not originating in a Berne Union country.

l If made before or within five years of publication, registration will establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate.

l If registration is made within three months after publication of the work or before an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney's fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner.

Registration may be made at any time within the life of the copyright. Unlike the law before 1978, when a work has been registered in unpublished form, another registration is not necessary when the work is published, although the copyright owner may register the published edition, if desired.

REGISTRATION PROCEDURES

If you choose to register your work, you should send the following three elements to the Copyright Office in the same envelope or package: l A properly completed application form l A fee of $20 for each application l A deposit of the work being registered

The deposit requirements will vary in particular situations. The general requirements are as follows:

If the work is unpublished one complete copy or phonorecord

If the work was published in the United States on or after January 1, 1978, two complete copies or phonorecords of the best edition

If the work was first published in the United States before January 1, 1978, two complete copies or phonorecords of the work as first published

If the work was first published outside the United States, whenever published one complete copy or phonorecord of the work as first published

If the work is a contribution to a collective work and published after January 1, 1978, one complete copy or phonorecord of the best edition of the collective work

NOTE: The Copyright Office has the authority to adjust fees at five-year intervals, based on changes in the Consumer Price Index. Contact the Copyright Office for the most current fees.

COPYRIGHT DURATION

A work that is created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author's life - plus an additional 50 years after the author's death. In the case of "a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire," the term lasts for 50 years after the last surviving author's death. For works made for hire and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author's identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright will be 75 years from publication or 100 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

Works that were created, but not published or registered for copyright before January 1, 1978, automatically have been brought under the statute and are now given federal copyright protection. The duration of copyright in these works generally is computed in the same way as for works created on or after January 1, 1978; the life-plus-50 or 75/100-year terms will apply to them as well. The law provides that in no case will the term of copyright for works in this category expire before December 31, 2002, and for works published on or before December 31, 2002, the term of copyright will not expire before December 31, 2027.

Under the law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured either on the date a work was published or on the date of registration if the work was registered in unpublished form. In either case, the copyright lasted for a first term of 28 years from the date it was secured. During the last (28th) year of the first term, the copyright was eligible for renewal. The current copyright law has extended the renewal term from 28 to 47 years for copyrights that were subsisting on January 1, 1978, making these works eligible for a total term of protection of 75 years.

Public Law 102-307, enacted on June 26, 1992, amended the Copyright Act of 1976 and automatically extended the term of copyrights secured between January 1, 1964, and December 31, 1977 to the further term of 47 years and increased the filing fee from $12 to $20. This fee increase applies to all renewal applications filed on or after June 29, 1992.

Under Public Law 102-307, renewal registration is optional. There is no need for the renewal filing to be made in order for the original 28-year copyright term to be extended to the full 75 years. However, some benefits accrue to making a renewal registration during the 28th year of the original term.