Can I File for a Copyright Without a Lawyer?

Yes, generally, it is relatively easy for a copyright owner to file for copyright — this is called registering copyright — without the legal services of an experienced copyright law firm like Revision Legal. Registration of copyrights is done by the US Copyright Office, part of the Library of Congress. The process is — mostly — done electronically and involves completing and filing the proper forms and providing two copies of the original work to be registered. Here is some general information about copyrights and some circumstances where it might be useful to consult a top-tier copyright lawyer and intellectual property lawyer before or during the registration process.

Copyrights Exist Even if You Do Not Register Them

Under US copyright laws, copyrights exist even if the owner does not register the copyright with the US Copyright Office. Copyrights apply to any original work of authorship, such as a book, song lyrics, music, movies, videos, painted or graphically created images, etc. So, if you create it and it is original, you have a copyright on the original work. Copyrights give the owner certain rights, including the right to:

Make, sell and distribute copies of the original
Perform/display the work publicly
Make and sell original works of authorship that are derivative of the first work
Prevent others from doing the above

If the owner of an original work of authorship registers the copyright, then additional legal rights come into existence. These include:

The ability to file lawsuits in federal court to punish infringement of the copyright
The ability to recover additional and enhanced damages if copyright infringement is proven, such as statutory damages and attorneys fees

Aside from these enhanced legal protections, registration provides some additional advantages in that registration creates a searchable public record. The public nature of registration makes it easier for people and businesses to contact the copyright owner for purposes of asking for a license to use the work or inquire about buying the copyright. Also, the public nature of a registered copyright makes it more difficult for an infringer to claim “accidental infringement.”

Advantages to hiring a talented copyright law firm for registration

As noted, registration can be done without the services of a copyright law firm. But there are circumstances where it may be better to hire a good copyright lawyer. These include:

If you have many copyrights to register, hiring a copyright law firm will save time and hassle
If the copyright is jointly owned or the original work was created by more than one author, registration can be more complicated, and hiring a copyright law firm will ensure that registration is done correctly
If there is an urgent need to register a copyright without mistakes — such as the need to quickly file an infringement lawsuit — hiring a copyright law firm is the best practice
If the copyright owner has plans to license, sell or assign the copyright — hiring a copyright law firm will ensure the registration is done correctly, which is a prerequisite to licensing, selling, and assigning the copyright
And more

Contact A Copyright Attorney At Revision Legal For more information, contact the trusted Copyright lawyers at Revision Legal. You can contact us through the form on this page or call (855) 473-8474.

The Copyright Registration Process in Detail

Copyright registration is handled by the U.S. Copyright Office, which operates under the Library of Congress. The process is primarily electronic through the Copyright Office’s eCO system. The basic registration involves three steps: completing the application form (selecting the appropriate work type — literary, visual art, musical, audiovisual, etc.); paying the filing fee (currently $45 for a single online registration for a single author’s unpublished work, with higher fees for other registration types); and depositing the required number of copies of the work. For most online registrations, the deposit requirement is met by uploading a digital file.

The Copyright Office typically takes several months to process registrations, though expedited processing is available for a higher fee ($800 as of current schedules) when there is an urgent need — for example, when infringement is occurring and you need to file suit quickly. Understanding the timing of registration relative to infringement is critical: statutory damages and attorneys’ fees are only available if the copyright was registered before the infringement began, or within three months of first publication of the work. This creates a strong incentive to register promptly after creation or publication rather than waiting until a problem arises.

What Copyright Protects — and What It Does Not

Copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. This includes literary works, music, drama, choreography, pictorial and graphic works, sculpture, motion pictures and audiovisual works, sound recordings, and architectural works. Copyright protection is automatic upon creation and fixation — you do not need to register to have copyright protection, but registration is required to sue in federal court.

Copyright does not protect ideas, facts, procedures, methods, systems, concepts, or discoveries — only the expression of those things. This is called the idea-expression dichotomy and is codified in 17 U.S.C. § 102(b). It means, for example, that you cannot copyright the concept of a story about a young wizard at a boarding school — but you can copyright the specific expression of that story in a novel, screenplay, or script. Similarly, copyright does not protect titles, names, short phrases, or slogans — these are protected by trademark law, not copyright.

Copyright Infringement: What Happens When Someone Copies Your Work

If someone reproduces, distributes, publicly displays, or creates derivative works based on your copyrighted work without authorization, that is infringement. The remedies available in a federal copyright infringement lawsuit depend significantly on whether registration was in place before the infringement. With pre-infringement registration, the copyright owner can elect statutory damages of between $750 and $30,000 per infringed work, and up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement — without proving actual financial harm. They can also recover attorneys’ fees. Without timely registration, the copyright owner is limited to actual damages (the financial harm suffered) and the infringer’s profits attributable to the infringement, both of which can be difficult to prove and may not justify the cost of litigation.

Online infringement is pervasive and takes many forms — unauthorized reproduction of images, plagiarized text, re-uploaded videos, and software piracy. A copyright attorney can send DMCA takedown notices to platforms hosting infringing content (17 U.S.C. § 512), pursue DMCA subpoenas to identify anonymous infringers, and file suit in federal court when the infringement is significant enough to warrant litigation. For creators and businesses with valuable copyright portfolios, proactive registration and monitoring is the most cost-effective way to protect those assets and preserve all available legal remedies.