»   Prepare and file copyright applications.

»   Prepare copyright licenses and assignments

»   Conduct infringement analyses

»   Counsel on fair use, public display and performance, and distribution issues

»   Counsel on ownership, work-for-hire, joint authorship, and first sale doctrine issues

»   Counsel on vicarious liability issues (e.g., when are parents responsible for a child's unauthorized music downloads?)

»   Evaluate whether software, including source code, is infringing

»   Copyright litigation

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a copyright?

• A copyright protects an original work of authorship that is fixed in a tangible medium of expression

• Copyrights protect literary, musical, pictorial, sculptural, audio, visual, architectural, dramatic, and choreographic works. These categories are broadly construed. For example, computer source code is considered a “literary” work, and is copyrightable.

• Copyrights protect expression, not inventions, functions, principles, discoveries, ideas, and the like.

• Copyrights protect “works of authorship,” not titles, names, slogans, and short phrases.

• A “tangible medium of expression” can be a piece of paper, a canvass, a video tape, a disc, hard drive, a memory chip, or any other medium for fixing, storing, or recording a work of authorship.

How do I obtain a copyright?

By creating an original work of authorship and fixing it to a tangible medium of expression

What are some of the benefits of federal copyright registration?

• Registration establishes a public record of your copyright and provides you with a certificate of registration.

• If registered within five (5) years of publication, registration provides prima facie evidence that the work is original and owned by the registrant.

• Registration is a prerequisite to filing a copyright infringement suit.

• Registration provides the owner with a broader array of available remedies in federal court for infringement, including statutory damages (which can eliminate the need to prove actual damages, which can be difficult), and attorneys’ fees. Generally, unless an application is filed within three months of publication, you cannot recover statutory damages or attorneys fees for an infringement that occurred prior to registration. 17 U.S.C. § 412.