Supreme Court Provides Fresh Incentive for Timely Copyright Registration

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court issued two new rulings on matters involving copyright infringement. The more significant ruling came in Fourth Estate Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC., where the Court held that claims for copyright infringement filed after applying to register but before the actual issuance of a registration certificate were untimely. The ruling resolved a split among the circuit courts and dealt a blow to prospective copyright plaintiffs in, for example, the Ninth Circuit, where the filing of an application alone had been considered sufficient previously.

The issue may seem trivial, but it can have significant consequences. Applications to register copyrights can take a year or more to be fully processed, which means claims based on previously unregistered works can easily be lost to the statute of limitations if they aren’t pursued promptly. Therefore, the case reflects a fresh reason to add to the list as to why registering works as a matter of course as soon as they are created is a good idea.

In addition to being a prerequisite to bring suit, timely registration can entitle plaintiffs to substantially greater damages in the event the registered work is infringed (and also reimbursement for attorney fees and court costs, as discussed in the other Supreme Court opinion on copyright infringement from this year). It is of course true that most registered works will never be sued over, but with the fees associated with registration relatively low—filing fees payable to the Copyright Office are usually in the range of just $35 to $55—the resulting peace of mind and, on the off chance a work is infringed, leverage during licensing discussions can be well worth the price.

Eric has assisted many clients with copyright registrations and offers rates competitive with discount services like LegalZoom in this area.