5 Legal Advantages of Registering Copyright | Unilex

• Admin
• June 8, 2021, 7:47 a.m.

Copyright registration enables business owners to safeguard his/her original work. The copyright registration is available for commercial and non-commercial workers. The term ‘copyright protection’ means it gives protection to the intellectual property from reproduction and distribution executed by the third party without taking the permission of the author. Copyright registration is round the clock available for everyone who produces some creative form of expression in a tangible medium.

Should you register a copyright?

Well, this thing depends on the work and level of protection you need if a third party reproduce or distribute your work without asking you. If you are not sure about copyright registration. It is vital to consult with the legal advisor, who will recommend the best solutions that you are seeking. Keep in mind, registration not only protect your work from infringement but also greatly enhance the value of the copyrights. Nevertheless, below we have mentioned some of the prominent advantages of copyright registration.

•    Public Record of Ownership: After copyright registration author gets copyright ownership. Which helps him to prove that it is his intellectual property at the time of the claim of copyright infringement. Records of copyrights registration and documents can be used by the public to identify the author and copyright owner of the work. When you register a copyright at copyright office you fill some information that publicized on the internet. This gives constructive notice to the public that you own the work and helps defeat claims of “innocent infringement”.

•    Legal Evidence of Ownership: In the event, if the third party reproduce or distribute your work then copyright registration will avoid the costly dispute over the actual ownership of the work. One of the greatest legal advantages of copyright registration is that it provides full proof to the public that it is your work and nobody has a right to share it or reproduce it. After the copyright registration, the copyrights holders are granted the exclusive rights to make copies of work, distribute it and display the work on various medium. But, if the third party usurped one of these rights, to protect his work, a copyright holder can take legal action against copyright infringement. To prove that the third party uses his work, the copy holder must show that the copying party had access to original work and the two works are sustainably similar. 

•    Eligibility for Statutory Damages, Attorney fees and Cost of Suit: Statutory damages are the damages which will be given by the judge to the copyright owner in a copyright infringement suit. Perhaps it is one of the most important legal advantages of copyright registration.  But, without registration, a copyright owner cannot bring his case in a court for copyright infringement. That’s why it is necessary to authorized work by registering at the copyright office. When copyrights are registered prior to infringement, a copyright owner becomes eligible to avail the benefits of statutory damages. It is extremely valuable for a copyright owner because an award of statutory damages enables a copyright owner to recover a certain amount per work infringed. For example, if 5 songs are infringed, the copyright owner would be able to recover statutory damage for each one.

•    Permits “cease and Desist” Letters: Many of the times copyright infringements are resolved out of the court. Having a copyright registration and legal proof of work enables a copyright holder to send a “cease and desist” letter to the infringer. A letter contains a real warning to stop making use of copyrighted work, otherwise, a copyright holder can take legal action against it.

•    Presumption of Ownership: The copyright owners are typically referred that they are the rightful owners of the copyrighted work. And they only have the rights to reproduce and distribute their work. A copyright registration within five years of first publication creates a legal presumption of ownership and validity. Whereas, a copyright registration fails to prove that ownership of copyright, in that case, a legal presumption of ownership uses and will shift the burden to prove to the defendant to disprove by showing sufficient evidence. This presumption is valuable when copyright infringement is becoming serious and harm the intellectual property of the owner. 

Why Obtain a Copyright?

When you obtain a copyright registration, it is published as a record, thus deterring the third parties to use your copyrighted work. In order to utilize the copyrights laws, your intellectual property must be registered as a copyright. Hence, the copyright registration gives control to the copyright holder to protect his/her work from the outsiders or they can be sold their work to them for financial benefits.

•    One can deal with import and export the work with copyright protection.

•    One can sell or transfer to the third party with copyright protection.

•    One can deal with copyright infringement with a peace of mind. 

•    One can protect intellectual property from the third parties.

Conclusion:

Copyright owners should seriously take copyright registration in order to protect his/her work from the third parties. Registration makes copyright holder to avail the benefits of statutory damages, attorney fee and costs of suits in the event of copyright infringement. If you are looking for a consult for registering your work at the copyright office. Then you have come to the right place. At Unilex Consultant, our consultants will help you regarding copyright registration and copyright infringements and make your process hassle-free.