Why Copyright Artwork?

DEREK FAHEY, ESQ.

Copyright registration provides several important enforcement advantages. The general rule in United States litigation is that each party bears its own attorneys’ fees and costs. The Copyright Act, however, includes a fee-shifting provision that may allow a prevailing copyright owner to recover attorneys’ fees and litigation costs.

When a work is timely registered, the owner may also be eligible for statutory damages. Registration is generally considered timely when it occurs before infringement begins or within three months after the work is first published or distributed to the public.

Statutory damages may range from $750 to $30,000 per infringed work and may reach $150,000 for willful infringement. These remedies can be especially valuable because actual damages and an infringer’s profits may be difficult to prove for creative works.

Eligibility for statutory damages and attorneys’ fees may provide leverage for an efficient settlement and may also make it easier to retain counsel on a contingency basis.