COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION

A copyright protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture are captured in a tangible form. You have a copyright on your work as soon as you make it available, without any additional paperwork. But registering your work with the National Copyright office makes it part of the public record. The registration will make it easier to prove your ownership if someone does attempt to steal your work, and copyright registration is considered prima facie evidence of copyright ownership in law. You don’t need any other evidence to prove your ownership and support your claim.

Benefits of Registering Your Copyright

1) You’re the only person who can distribute the work for commercial purposes.

2) You can sell your right to control over the copyrighted work, so when you write your next big thriller you can sell the movie rights and keep the right to create a sequel.

3) A copyright gives you the exclusive right to reproduce or copy the work or change its form, like creating a sequel and revising or updating the work.

4) Only you can perform the work or display it in public; everyone else has to ask you first.

5) Registration informs the world that you own the work and all the rights of ownership.

6) Registration protects your rights in all countries that still condition legal protection on public notice that the rights have been claimed.

7) You can’t sue for copyright infringement or get an order from a judge to make somebody stop using your work.

8) If you succeed in an infringement suit, you are entitled to money damages even if you can’t prove how much money you actually lost because of the infringement.