Comments on: Why do I need to register my copyright?

By: Statutory Damages for Copyright Infringement Explained | Patents101

Statutory Damages for Copyright Infringement Explained | Patents101 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:55:55 +0000

[...] does any of those things without your permission is infringing on your copyrights. If you have registered your copyright, you can pursue a copyright infringer in court and recover monetary damages and [...]

By: Clifford D. Hyra

Clifford D. Hyra — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:17:20 +0000

I would note that for physical (not electronic) deposits, the Copyright Office states that :”Photographic transparencies must be at least 35mm in size and, if 3″ × 3″ or less, must be fixed in cardboard, plastic, or similar mounts; transparencies larger than 3″ × 3″ should be mounted. All types of identifying material other than photographic transparencies must be not less than 3″ × 3″ and not more than 9″ × 12″, but preferably 8″ × 10″. The image of the work should show clearly the entire copyrightable content of the work.

By: The Expected Wait for Your Copyright Registration | Patents101

The Expected Wait for Your Copyright Registration | Patents101 — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:50:19 +0000

[...] have discussed before the importance of registering your copyrights, which gives you the ability to enforce your copyrights. Once you submit your application for [...]

By: Clifford D. Hyra

Clifford D. Hyra — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:28:05 +0000

It is not mandatory to include a copyright watermark or other indication on a work you are registering with the copyright office. There are no required dimensions for works submitted online in electronic form.

By: Miriam

Miriam — Sat, 30 May 2009 01:19:21 +0000

I am going to register a collection of digital photos with the US copyright office. What dimensions shall I use to submit the images and do I need to add a copyright watermark on the image?

Thanks for your reply.

By: Clifford D. Hyra

Clifford D. Hyra — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:34:13 +0000

artsyweb,

Your question is a difficult one. I cannot give you advice about your particular situation, given that you are not my client.

However, generally speaking, a work derived from a non-copyrighted, public record work can be copyrighted, if it is different enough from the original to be regarded as a “new work” or contains a substantial amount of new material. The copyright in this derivative work extends only to the material contributed by the author, as distinguished from the preexisting material used.

For more information, see the following excellent wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_work.

Note that derivative works of copyrighted materials generally constitute a copyright infringement.

By: artsyweb

artsyweb — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:54:31 +0000

Is it possible to register a copyright on a image that is derived from a public domain symbol? Specifically the recycle symbol, or the smiley face symbol that is everywhere, in emoticons, clip art. I have a recycle design that incorporates the symbol. My has its own style. And clip art, if I change it, can I copyright my version?. I am not trying to say I originated these, but would like to protect my versions. My thought are no to both of these, but I would appreciate your advice.

By: Clifford D. Hyra

Clifford D. Hyra — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:10:01 +0000

It is infringement to violate your copyright even if it is not registered, it’s just that you cannot sue to enforce it without registration. Also, most infringements are continuing. It is rare that someone will rip off one of your articles and post it on their own site, and then take it down the next day. However, registering a copyright can take six months to a year unless you expedite the process, which is much more expensive than a normal registration. Considering the other advantages of registering early, ideally your copyright would be registered prior to infringement.

There is nothing per se to stop someone from registering your work themselves, except for the fact that it is fraud. If you have good evidence that you are the author, they could be in big trouble. Even if it is posted on the internet, the wayback machine will often give a date that an article first appeared. If you are posting in a blog software, it also keeps track of post dates, which could be useful evidence.

By: Rick Regan

Rick Regan — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:53:41 +0000

Thanks for the good article and good answer.

It’s interesting that you can register a copyright AFTER infringement and still have the ability to sue. But what stops the infringer from registering your work first? In particular I am thinking about articles published on the Web, which may be hard to trace to their source (especially since Google sometimes ranks “scraped” articles higher than the original source).

By: Clifford D. Hyra

Clifford D. Hyra — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:26:24 +0000

Rick,

Thank you for your question. Basically, the benefit of a copyright without registration is that you are entitled to register it! Technically, no one is allowed to copy your creative work fixed in a tangible form no matter what, because you hold the copyrights (someone has to). But, you cannot enforce your copyright, for example by suing for copyright infringement, without a registration. The first thing you would have to do if someone was infringing your copyrights and you wanted to sue them (or really even negotiate with them) would be to register your copyright. Only after the registration went through could you enforce your rights.

By the way, you can register your entire website with a single form and fee. It is a relatively easy process. However, you would have to apply every time you put up a new article if you wanted the new article to be included in the registration. I typically recommend to people concerned about their website being copied that they re-register their copyright in their website every quarter or so. Feel free to contact me directly for more information.