Bernstein & Associates

Attorneys At Law, P.C.

6600 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, N.E.
Embassy Row 400, Suite 495
Atlanta, Georgia 30328-1649

 

Intelligent Innovation Managementsm

 

Patent, Trademark,                                                                                                             Telephone (770) 671-1755

and Copyright Law                                                                                                               Facsimile (770) 671-1161

Related Business Matters                                                                                                         www.globaliplaw.com

 

COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION INFORMATION

REGISTRATION

The fee for obtaining a copyright registration is $250, which includes the filing fee and our fee for the application. Typically, there are no additional costs associated with registration unless there is a substantive rejection of the application. In addition, we will need several copies of the work to be registered.

It normally takes about six months to obtain a registration certificate, given the current Copyright Office backlog. However, the registration certificate will be dated from the day the Copyright Office receives it.

If your creation is a software program, registration of copyright in a software program and associated documentation is a relatively straightforward procedure. We will need a copy of the source code printout. If the total printout is less than 50 pages, we will need all of it. If it is more than 50 pages, we will need the first 25 pages and the last 25 pages of printout. Even though most software code is not written linearly like a novel, the archaic registration procedure of the Copyright Office has the old requirements. The best way is to send us the first several pages of each module, making sure that each module is stapled together.

NOTICE

In order to give notice to the public that you claim copyright in the work, you should place a copyright notice of the following form on the work:

Copyright 2003 [name of owner] All rights reserved

You can alternatively use the “©” symbol or “Copyr.”

WORK FOR HIRE?

If you contracted with a third party to have the software developed, and that person does not qualify as an employee, that party may actually own the copyright in and to the software. You should have an assignment executed by the software developer and any of his/her agents or subcontractors (ask him/her about this because it is common for programmers to use subprogrammers for particular parts of a program). We will need the written assignment in order to register the copyright in the program with you being the owner of the program. We will also need the birthdate and citizenship of all authors of the software.

BENEFITS OF REGISTRATION

If you register your copyright either before first distribution or publication of the work, or within three months after first distribution or publication, in the event your copyright is infringed, you may be entitled to an award of  “statutory damages” of $750-30,000 per work infringed. If the infringement was willful, the statutory damage award can be increased to $150,000 plus attorney fees. Under certain circumstances criminal penalties may be possible. If you do not register within this time frame, you may still be able to obtain an injunction and collect actual damages for infringement.

DURATION OF COPYRIGHT

For newly registered works, the copyright registration is valid for the life of the author plus 70 years. For works made for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author's identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter

INFRINGEMENT

In order to successfully show that a work has been infringed, you must show that (1) the infringer had access to the work, and, (2) the infringing work is “substantially similar” to the copyrighted work. There is no specific percentage of how much must be changed to be noninfringing.

You cannot sue unless you have a copyright registration certificate. One can be obtained on a rush basis, but the cost is about $900.

We have also enclosed a copyright registration information sheet. If you wish to proceed with filing, please complete the form and return it with your check in the amount of  $210 and the appropriate number of specimens of the work to be copyrighted. If you need further information, please give us a call.

Click here if you have a Copyright Question you would like us to answer.

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