Copyright Registration

What is a copyright?

Copyright is a form of intellectual property that protects the exclusive right to print, publish, perform, film or otherwise copy a protected work.

What does a copyright protect and how long does it last?

A copyright protects the expression of an idea in a tangible form. This can include anything from a screenplay to a piece of music to a drawing or even compiled text. Anything creative you can put in a tangible form can be protected by copyright. For businesses, this means your logos, your t-shirt designs, even the free PDF you give to your email subscribers.

When registered, copyright protection for a known individual lasts the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. For copyright owners under an anonymous name or that are businesses, a copyright will last 95 years from the first publication or 120 years from the date of creation.

How much does copyright registration cost?

Compared to other forms of intellectual property, copyright registration is relatively cheap. Each work costs only $65 to file. If you have a compilation of several pieces of the same type — a group of photographs or a group of drawings, for example — you may be able to register them all under the same work for a discounted fee.

A 2020 law also allows users to register multiple short-form online literary works into a single copyright. This is ideal for those of us who post on social media on a consistent basis. The entire process from filing to registration can take as little as a couple of months — making copyright an ideal, yet overlooked, choice to protect many aspects of your business.

Is a copyright application what I need?

Each of our clients is different. People and companies are at different stages and have different costs associated with their product or business. There is no single answer for everyone — what you and your company need is unique and based on a number of factors. We highly recommend speaking with an attorney to discuss the next steps for your company and whether a copyright registration may be what you need.

I have a copyright registration — now what?

Now we can turn the shield into a sword and use the copyright protection to stop people from using your works. We can use the copyright registration as a way to force other users to cease and desist the use of your work and, if necessary, file suit against them. With a copyright registration, in addition to actual damages you can be awarded statutory damages up to $150,000 per infringement and attorneys' fees if you win a copyright infringement case.