Privacy, Business and Law

Copyright registration is the process of filing with the Library of Congress, Copyright Office, an application form. Registration is not necessary in order to have a copyright, however there are certain benefits of obtaining registration, discussed below. A copyright exists in an original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium

“(a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. … “17 U.S.C. s106

As an example of “fixed in a tangible medium”, once you have hit the save button on your favorite editor, named the program, and hit the ‘okay’ button, you have copyright protection.

Benefits of copyright registration

• Right to sue in Federal court, you must have a registration before you may file an infringement suit.
• Protect against importation of infringing copies, by recording the registration with the U.S. Customs Service.
• Without registration you will only receive actual damages and profits, however if you register within 3 months after publication of the work OR prior to an infringement of the work then statutory damages and attorney’s fees are available.
• Prima facie evidence in court of the validity of the copyright in court, if made before or within 5 years of publication.
• Establish a public record of the copyright claim.

What is covered by copyright?

Most likely the program code is covered by copyright (subject to some limitations), however processes are not covered. The legal test of infringement is substantially similar, however enforcing copyright infringement of software has left much to be desired. In order to protect processes you will need to pursue patent protection.

What rights does copyright provide?

The abridged version of 17 U.S.C. s106 states that the owner of the copyright can do the following.

• Reproduce the work
• Prepare derivative works
• Distribute copies of the work
• Perform the work publicly
• Display the work publicly

With regard to sound recordings, perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission

Restrictions

The above s106 is subject to limitations of s107 through s120, the most widely known being the “fair use” exception.

Requirements

The work must be:

• an original work of authorship, and
• fixed in a tangible medium

Must I re-file every time we change the program code?

In order to make a new claim in your work the changes that you make must be substantial and creative. Not every code change will result in a new derivative work.

What about the screen displays generated from the computer program?

You do not need to file separately for copyright on the program and screen displays. The Copyright office believes that a single registration is enough to register the copyright in the computer program as well as the screen displays.

Notice

You do not need to use a copyright notice, however it is useful against a defense of innocent infringement, and recommended that you use it.