The implications of not registering a copyright can be very costly and time-consuming. Without federal registration, you cannot legally prevent someone from copying or using your original work. Delaying copyright registration can result in a severe limit in the amount of damages that may be awarded should there be a finding of infringement.
What are the remedies available to you if you don't register your copyrightable work and later find out that someone else has copied your work? U.S. law requires timely registration for receiving the maximum available remedies for infringement of your work. Here are some drawbacks to failure to timely register your copyrightable work:
1. You will not be able to collect statutory damages against the infringing party. These damages are automatic and don’t require any showing by the owner of loss resulting from the infringement. The statutory damages range from a minimum of $750 to a maximum of $30,000. In the event the court finds that the infringement has been willful, these damages can be increased up to five times (up to $150,000). This remedy is specially valuable where the dollar amount of the damages are small, infringement is hard to prove or proving it involves inordinate expenditures of time and money.
2. Without the benefit of statutory damages, even if you bring legal action against infringers, your remedies are limited to the actual damage that you have suffered as a result of the infringement, which may be small and difficult and/or expensive to prove.
3. The infringing acts may continue. Without timely action to stop infringing acts, the infringer may continue its infringing activities.
4. Without registration, it may be financially cost prohibitive to pursue legal options against infringers.
5. Because statutory damages are not available, unless the damages you have suffered are large and easy to prove, attorneys would be unlikely to take your case on a contingency basis.
6. The infringing party who is aware of lack of registration of your work would have very little incentive to discontinue its infringement.
7. You will not be able to collect attorney's fees, which can be quite significant in an infringement lawsuit.
Contact Information
Dr. Dariush Adli, Ph.D, Esq.
ADLI LAW GROUP P.C.
633 West Fifth Street, Suite 6900
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Phone:(213) 623-6546
Direct:(213) 623-6547
Fax: (213) 623-6554
Email: adli@adlilaw.com
Web: www.adlilaw.com