Registering Copyright for Published Work

I don't know Canadian law, so this applies only to US copyright. In the US, you have a copyright the minute you reduce something to tangible form (i.e., hit save, not to mention print). Once your story is published in a mag, you'd have unassailable proof of your copyright as of that date, so filing a formal copyright would be pointless.

There are things, like software code, where formal copyright is key. For us, though, not so much.

The difference, in the US, between registered and unregistered copyright is that with a registered copyright you can sue an infringer for statuatory damages. If the copyright is unregistered you can sue an infringer only for actual damages.

Make up your own mind as to which is worth it to you.

Well, that's not entirely true -- Section 412 statutory damages are limited to registered copyrights, but Section 504 damages for willful infringement are still available without formal registration (and we're getting into a level of specificity that I intentionally avoid in BB posts).

LJD said:

Hmm. A little searching indicates that this is not the case in Canada: "registration in Canada is not required for a plaintiff to claim statutory damages".

But I'm not sure whether I should be looking at Canada or the US. Because, odds are, an infringer would be American rather than Canadian, right? So which law would apply in that case?

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I spent four years fighting about a similar question (including two appeals) and the case finally settled before we even got around to applying the forum's substantive law. These aren't really questions with yes/no answers.

LJD said:

Because, odds are, an infringer would be American rather than Canadian, right?

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As in Google?

I did get a check for $.81 (US) from that suit.

Jeff

What are the odds that you would taken some one to court?

Well I never thought I would be, and maybe it won't get that far, but I'm glad I registered my copyright because one of my books was recently plagiarized. My IP attorney was glad to hear my copyright was registered.

www.copyright.gov

I did a search for my book on the copyright website and could not find it. However, in the front of my book the copyright is in my name followed by the statement that you must obtain permission from the publisher to copy, print, etc any portion of the book

Unfortunately I published this book with the mother of all bad publishing houses. I want to create a new cover and republish with Create Space. Does anyone know if I can do this since the book copyright is not registered and the copyright is in my name inside the book? My contract is not up until 2017.

For the record, I looked for this publishing house on the copyright website and they are listed with many book but mine is not one of them.

Appreciate any info you can give me. Thanks.

JBReed said:

I did a search for my book on the copyright website and could not find it. However, in the front of my book the copyright is in my name followed by the statement that you must obtain permission from the publisher to copy, print, etc any portion of the book

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You don't need to register your book's copyright in order to own the copyright to it: that copyright exists automatically as soon as you write it.

Unfortunately I published this book with the mother of all bad publishing houses. I want to create a new cover and republish with Create Space. Does anyone know if I can do this since the book copyright is not registered and the copyright is in my name inside the book? My contract is not up until 2017.

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If your book is under contract, you cannot legally publish it elsewhere. Whether the copyright is registered or not is immaterial: you signed a publishing contract, by which you are legally bound.

Copyright registration has a kind of deadline to it, though. From the "Copyright Basics" PDF document at the US Copyright Office Web site(emphasis added):

If registration is made within three months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney’s fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner.

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That doesn't mean that you can't still register. But, since the OP says that the work is already published, registration establishes facts in a question of copyright, but it may already be too late (under US law) to gain the benefit above.