At 11:03 AM 7/23/2001 +0100, Tony Sleep wrote:
>For the avoidance of doubt : in most countries except the US, there is no
>concept of copyright registration. The fact of authorship is all that is
>required.
In the US, the difference between registering and not registering the
copyright is primarily a matter of the amount of damages you can attempt to
collect. For works that are of US origin, the copyright must be registered
before suit can be filed. If the copyright is registered within 3 months of
publication or before infringement, statutory damages (up to $150,000) plus
attorney's fees may be sued for; otherwise only actual damages may be
recovered. In addition (contrary to the statements of an earlier poster),
the Copyright Act also makes provision for criminal liability in addition
to civil liability if the infringement is "for purposes of commercial
advantage or private financial gain."
What remedies are available in those countries that have no concept of
copyright registration?
Stan
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Photography by Stan McQueen:
