Copyright registration

The pre-1978 indexes to the copyright records are available for public inspection at the Library of Congress.

The purpose of copyright registration is to place on record a verifiable account of the date and content of the work in question, so that in the event of a legal claim, or case of infringement or plagiarism, the copyright owner can produce a copy of the work from an official government source.

Before 1978, in the United States, federal copyright was generally secured by the act of publication with notice of copyright or by registration of an unpublished work.^[1] This has now been largely superseded by international conventions, principally the Berne Convention, which provide rights harmonized at an international level without a requirement for national registration. However, the U.S. still provides legal advantages for registering works of U.S. origin.

Is registration required?

It is a common misconception to confuse copyright registration with the granting of copyright.

Copyright is itself an automatic international right, governed by international conventions - principally the Berne Convention (which dates from 1886). This means that copyright exists whether a work is registered or not. When the US signed up to the Convention in 1989, the internal registration system was retained, but foreign works must now be treated as though already registered in the US in accordance with the Berne Convention.

Professor Lawrence Lessig, Representative Lofgren and others have suggested that countries impose registration requirements after the internal term of protection required by the Berne Convention.^{[citation needed]}

Where can work be registered?

• In Kenya, copyrighted works can be registered at the Kenya Copyrights Board for a small fee.

• In the United Kingdom, commercial services provide a registration facility where copies of work can be lodged to establish legal evidence of a copyright claim. In the UK, there are also requirements to file certain published works with the British Library and, on request, the five legal deposit libraries.

• In the United States, the United States Copyright Office accepts registrations. For works created in the US by US citizens, a registration is also required before an infringement suit may be filed in a US court. Furthermore, copyright holders cannot claim statutory damages or attorney's fees unless the work was registered prior to infringement, or within three months of publication.^[2]

Finding copyright registrations

All United States copyright registrations and renewals registered since 1978 have been published online at the Copyright Office website. Registrations and renewals prior to 1978 ^[3] were published in semi-annual softcover Copyright Catalogs. For films from 1894 to 1969, inclusive, Library of Congress published hardcover Cumulative Copyright Catalogs, each covering ten or more years.

Please see the Copyright_Catalog article for links to download digital copies of these pre-1978 US catalogs.

Requirements by country

Copyright Registration by Country

Country	Registration Agency (if any)	Copyright registration requirements
Albania	Albanian Author’s Right Office	Voluntary.[4] Registration is acceptable in court as evidence of author's right.[5]
Antigua and Barbuda	None	Not required. No voluntary procedure available.[6]
Argentina	Ministry of Justice, Security, and Human Rights	Voluntary. Registration serves as presumption of authorship and date of creation.[7]
Australia	None	Not required. No voluntary procedure available.[8]
Brazil	Various, depending on subject matter[9]	Voluntary. Registration may help to provide evidence of authorship and which may aid in certifying precedence in the case of two similar works.[10]
Canada	Canadian Intellectual Property Office	Voluntary. Registration is evidence of ownership in an infringement case.[11]
China	National Copyright Administration	Voluntary. Recommended, especially for software.[12]
Denmark	None	Not required. No voluntary procedure available.[13]
Egypt	None	Not required. No voluntary procedure available.[14]
France	Office of Literacy and Artistic Property	Voluntary, may establish evidence of date of creation and a presumption of ownership.[15]
Germany	None	Not required. No voluntary procedure available.[16]
India	Copyright Office	Voluntary, establishes prima facie evidence of the facts contained on the registration certificate and may be used in court as proof of those facts.[17]
Israel	None	Not required. No voluntary procedure available.[18]
Jamaica	None - The Intellectual Property Services Centre is a non-profit organization that provides private registration services and is recommended by the Jamaican Intellectual Property Office for that purpose[19]	Not officially available, though voluntary registration through the Intellectual Property Services Centre provides rebuttable evidence of authorship and/or ownership. The Jamaican Intellectual Property Office officially recommends the practice of "poor man's copyright" to provide evidence of ownership and creation date.[19]
Japan	Agency for Cultural Affairs	Voluntary, establishes presumption of facts contained in registration for use in court.[20]
Kenya	Kenya Copyright Board	Voluntary, establishes prima facie evidence of the facts contained on the registration certificate and may be used in court as proof of those facts
Lithuania	None	Not required. No voluntary procedure available.[21]
Mexico	National Copyrights Institute	Voluntary, establishes prima facie evidence of ownership.[22]
Russian Federation	Rospatent	Voluntary registration available for computer programs and databases.[23]
Spain	Ministry of Culture	Voluntary, offers refutable presumption of copyright and ownership, but not required to file suit for infringement.[24]
Sweden	None	Not required. No voluntary procedure available.[25]
Turkey	Ministry of Culture	Required for cinematographic works and phonograms, voluntary for all other works. Registration may be used as evidence.[26]
Ukraine	National Office of Intellectual Property	Voluntary.[27]
United Kingdom	None	Not required. No voluntary procedure available.[28]
United States of America	United States Copyright Office	Not required to obtain copyright protection, but required for domestic copyright owners to bring a suit for copyright infringement in federal court. Not required for a federal court's subject-matter jurisdiction, however, as established through the Supreme Court decision in Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick.[29][30] Registration establishes prima facie evidence of facts contained in registration certificate if made within five years of first publication. Copyright owners are precluded from collecting statutory damages and/or attorney's fees for any infringement occurring before registration.[31] Foreign copyright owners are not required to register before suing for copyright infringement, but at least one court has held that they are subject to the same preclusion of statutory damages as domestic authors.[32]

Notes

1. ^ Copyright Basics (Circular 1) p.3.
2. ^ Copyright Basics (Circular 1) p.7.
3. ^ Copyright and the Public Domain page 11-10; Stephen Fishman - Law Journal Press (2008); ISBN 9781588521514
4. ^ On Copyright and other rights related with it, Law No.9380 of 28.04.2005 (Albania) DOC
5. ^ On Creation and Working of Albanian Author's Right Office, Decision No. 232 of 19.04.2006 (Albania) DOC
6. ^ Copyright Act, 2003 (Antigua and Barbuda)
7. ^ Argentina - Benefits of Registration (Spanish)
8. ^ How You Get Copyright, Australian Copyright Council
9. ^ http://www.cultura.gov.br/site/2008/03/08/orgaos-de-registro-de-obras-intelectuais/
10. ^ Azevedo, Rodrigo. "Chap. 6: Brazil". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
11. ^ CIPO - Registration of Copyright
12. ^ Ganea, Peter. "Chap. 8: People's Republic of China". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
13. ^ Copyright, Act, 14/06/1995, No. 395 (Denmark)
14. ^ Makeen, Makeen. "Chap. 14: Egypt". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
15. ^ Sirinelli, Pierre. "Chap. 15: France". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
16. ^ Thum, Dorothy. "Chap. 16: Germany". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
17. ^ Anand, Pravin; Reddy, Prashant. "Chap. 19: India". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
18. ^ Greenman, Tony. "Chap. 20: Israel". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
19. ^ ^{a b} JIPO - Copyright and Related Rights
20. ^ Ueno, Tatsuhiro. "Chap. 22: Japan". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
21. ^ Mizaras, Vytautas. "Chap. 24: Lithuania". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
22. ^ Schmidt, Luis. "Chap. 25: Mexico". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
23. ^ Savelieva, Irina. "Chap. 30: Russian Federation". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
24. ^ Xalabarder, Raquel. "Chap. 35: Spain". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
25. ^ Cederlund, Karin; Axhamn, Johan. "Chap. 36: Sweden". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
26. ^ Nal, Temel. "Chap. 39: Turkey". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
27. ^ The Law on Copyright and Related Rights
28. ^ Best, Hubert. "Chap. 40: United Kingdom". In Silke von Lewinski. Copyright Throughout the World (December 2009 ed.). 
29. ^ Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick Supreme Court Opinion
30. ^ "Trying to Curb "Drive-By Jurisdictional Rulings": Supreme Court Clarifies Purpose of Registration Requirement in Copyright Cases" by Moses Heyward
31. ^ 17 U.S.C. § 412
32. ^ Football Association Premier League Ltd. v. YouTube Inc., No. 07 Civ. 3582, (S.D.N.Y. July 3, 2009)

References

• Copyright Basics (Circular 1). U.S. Copyright Office. July 2008. http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf. 
• What to look for when choosing a copyright registration facility. UK Copyright Aid. January 2008. http://www.copyrightaid.co.uk/advice/copyright_registration. 

External links

• World Intellectual Property Organization - Directory of Intellectual Property Offices