Why Bother With Copyright Registration?
If you do not register your copyright, basic copyright protection still exists the moment that a creative work is “fixed” in some form that can be seen, heard, or otherwise presented to others for longer than a temporary period of time.
This type of automatic copyright protection is not as good as that afforded to an author who has taken the steps to register their copyright and receive a copyright registration certificate.
Without copyright registration, many countries prohibit a lawsuit against violators of copyright registration law. If you do not register your copyright, you limit your right to recover legal fees and damages for copyright registration violations. A lack of copyright registration makes it difficult to prove that you are the rightful owner. That’s why it is essential to register your copyright and receive a copyright registration certificate.
When you have a copyright registration certificate, you are entitled to copyright registration protection and you may be able to avoid these types of copyright registration issues:
Photographer Sued By Plagiarist
This lack of copyright registration case illustrates why copyright registration is important. A photographer claimed that his photographs were stolen by someone who distributed them on the Internet. The original photographer did not register his copyright.
After the name of this alleged violator of copyright registration laws was published on the Internet, he attempted to sue the original photographer! This incident could have been avoided if the photographs had the copyright registration protection available for free to anyone who wants to register a copyright by uploading their material to the World Copyright Center database. In that case, there wouldn’t have been any copyright registration question. The owner could prove he held the copyright registration rights to the photos. Copyright registration is the best protection. Be sure to register your copyright and add more protection by using the free services of the World Copyright Center.
Even if you think you have taken steps to register your copyright and protect yourself, you can still get caught up in a copyright registration lawsuits like this:
Judge Rejects Claims in ‘Da Vinci’ Suit
This copyright registration case alleges unauthorized use of material protected by copyright registration. Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.” asserted that “The Da Vinci Legacy” author Dan Brown violated their copyright when he wrote the book called “The Da Vinci Code.”
Mr. Brown was eventually cleared but not before things got ugly. If a copyright registration case can get this out of hand when everybody apparently played by the rules and took the steps necessary to register a copyright, just imagine how sticky things can get without copyright registration and the free Stamp’n’LockTM copyright registration system available at the World Copyright Center.
That’s why it is so important to seek professional help from copyright registration experts like World Copyright Center when you have created intellectual material and need to register copyright protection.
