July begins with a big bang, as the United States celebrates Independence Day. Parades, picnics, and fireworks mark the occasion. Coincidently, July is also National Hot Dog Month, National Ice Cream Month and National Picnic Month. As a result, there is no shortage of online videos dedicated to festive recipes, decorations, table settings, picnic planning, outfits, and more. These videos are generally the output of content creators – and often contain surprisingly creative ideas.
Being a content creator has become a full-time occupation for many clients, and those in the “Creator Economy” are frequently at risk of having their content copied – i.e., stolen and re-posted on other social media platforms. To protect creator content – whether your client posts videos to family or friends, as a hobby or to wider audiences – copyright registration at the U.S. Copyright Office can prove to be a valuable asset. It is not always easy to resolve content theft through specific social media platforms. However, having a copyright registration for your client’s video – especially if the video “goes viral” – can help protect your client from others attempting to make a profit off of your client’s ideas!
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. In today’s global digital economy, artists, authors and companies have unprecedented opportunities and tools for the dissemination of their creative works and products to a worldwide audience (but this comes with significant infringement and piracy challenges). It is more important now than ever to enhance the ability to protect and enforce copyright in your client’s original works.
A copyright registration provides the owner of copyright with exclusive rights including control of the use and copying of the owner’s creative work, as well as the right to distribute it, display it, or perform it. A copyright owner also holds the rights to derivative works, such as adapting the original content for different uses. With this control, a copyright owner can then prevent others from using, copying, distributing, displaying or performing the protected work without authorization.
The U.S. is unique with respect to copyrights in that we have a copyright office that issues copyright registrations. With a copyright registration in hand for a work, your client is thus provided with an exclusive right to reproduce or copy the work. Registering your client’s copyright in the U.S. protects markets for American creative works, not only in the United States but also internationally. The United States is a party to several international agreements establishing minimum standards of copyright protection that member countries must adopt to ensure that American creators have adequate legal protections against infringement of their works in other countries.
Since a U.S. copyright registration establishes your client’s ownership in the work, this offers various advantages based on this legal evidence of ownership. Simply put, a registration makes enforcing your client’s copyright rights much easier, especially with respect to social media platforms that are flooded with content and users who can copy your client’s content and pass it off as their own, hiding behind the mass of content on the platform.
Another advantage in having obtained a U.S. copyright registration for your client’s work is that a copyright registration is required in order to claim statutory damages in a copyright infringement case. In this way, even if you cannot prove how much money your client lost because of infringement, statutory damages provide a basis for a damages award if infringement is proven (and the infringer may even have to pay your client’s attorney fees).
In addition, a copyright registration for your client’s work can also enhance the marketability of your client (looking at you, full-time content creators!) This can ensure that additional works, if forming a series for example, align with your client’s artistic vision. Copyright registrations help make your client’s work a tangible asset that can be sold or licensed – and copyright protection lasts for your client’s lifetime (plus an additional 70 years!). Now this is something to celebrate!
