Copyright Registration filed for you by River Sanctuary Publishing     $125

Some of the advantages of, or reasons for, copyright registration follow:

1. If your work is registered with the United States Copyright Office, you are entitled to sue in the federal courts anyone who copies, distributes, performs, or otherwise uses your work without your consent. You cannot sue for copyright infringement until your claim to copyright is registered.
2. Copyright registration before someone begins an infringing use of your work is a prerequisite to the recovery of statutory damages and attorney’s fees (both of which can be substantial) in an infringement suit. Actual damages and the additional profits of an infringer may be recovered even though registration occurs after the infringement begins. However, failure to copyright at an early date may reduce the potential recovery from an infringer to the degree that it makes litigation economically unfeasible.
3. A copyright-registration certificate, when introduced into evidence in litigation, will constitute prima facie evidence of the validity of your copyright and the facts stated in the certificate, if the claim to copyright was registered before publication or within five years of publication of your work. Thus, you have the advantage of forcing your opponent to overcome the presumption that your rights are valid.
4. Copyright registration can be employed to correct or overcome the omission of the copyright notice from published copies of your work. If you publicly distribute a substantial number of copies without the proper copyright notice, your rights in the work will expire five years from publication unless you register a claim to copyright and place the proper copyright notice on the copies distributed after discovery of the error.
5. Copyright registration will reduce the likelihood of others “innocently” infringing your work as a result of errors or the omission of the copyright notice. If the name in your copyright notice is incorrect – for example, the name of a former copyright owner or the owner of a collective work – your copyright registration will prohibit the ability of others to deal “innocently” with the person named in the copyright notice.
6. Your application for copyright registration will be reviewed for the proper statutory formalities by the Copyright Office, and it may bring to your attention correctable errors. Correction of errors in the copyright notice at an early date will minimize the likelihood of innocent infringement of your work, as well as total loss of your rights.
7. Copyright registration provides the basis for a permanent, official record of ownership on file with the United States Copyright Office. Moreover, if your work is registered, assignments, licenses, mortgages, and bequests can be recorded in the Copyright Office and they will be given the effect of constructive notice to others throughout the United States of the rights affected.

Copyright registration also can lead to marketing opportunities. Those who are interested in a particular subject may discover your work through the records of the Copyright Office and contact you regarding possible business opportunities. You may be able to convert a potential infringer into a profitable licensee.