a prerequisite to an infringement action
The legal registration and ownership of the product of a writer or other original creator. The owner of the copyright owns all rights to use the copyrighted material. Copyright protects the original expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. It is free and automatically safeguards original works of literature from copying and certain other uses.
Copyright registration is a legal formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright. However, registration is not a condition of copyright protection. Even though registration is not a requirement for protection, the copyright law provides several advantages for copyright owners who register their work(s).
Act required by the U.S. Copyright Office before a court action may be brought to prevent infringement. Copyright protection automatically attaches to any work of authorship as soon as it is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Registration also confers strategic benefits in an infringement action, including a presumption that the registered owner is the rightful owner, as well as the ability to collect damages that often make the difference between an owner being able to afford litigation and having to forego his or her rights.
Registration of a copyrighted work with the Registrar of Copyrights in the Library of Congress occurs after creation, affixation of notice, manufacture and distribution. Forms and fee schedules are available from the U.S. Copyright Office .
The purpose of copyright registration is to place on record a verifiable account of the date and content of the work in question, so that in the event of a legal claim, or case of infringement or plagiarism, the copyright owner can produce a copy of the work from an independently verifiable source, (i.e. they do not rely on their own word and evidence).