The law states clearly that remedies for infringement require registration - timely registration. If you fail to register early, you will probably pay your own legal bills and be unable to win major penalties against the violator.

111 Copyright Law of the United States 412. Registration as prerequisite to certain remedies for infringement11 In any action under this title, other than an action brought for a violation of the rights of the author under section 106A(a) or an action instituted under section 411(b), no award of statutory damages or of attorney’s fees, as provided by sections 504 and 505, shall be made for— (1) any infringement of copyright in an unpublished work commenced before the effective date of its registration; or Copyright Notice, Deposit, and Registration §412 (2) any infringement of copyright commenced after first publication of the work and before the effective date of its registration, unless such registration is made within three months after the first publication of the work.

How the Legal Process Can Work Against the Writer

Large educational organizations, corporations, publishers, their insurance companies, and their attorneys may use delaying tactics to continue using infringed work after being warned. Their legal resources are usually extensive. The costs involved in blocking their infringement can be immense - ranging into the $15,000 - $100,000 range.

One of the first questions they may ask is whether the work in question is registered. If they learn the work is unregistered, they may rely upon delay to run up the writer's legal bills, knowing that the writer can do little financial damage in court. If the infringement occurs before registration, the victim of infringement pays his/her own legal bills and can win little in the way of damages. It may cost $15,000 or more to stop the infringement, and none of those legal costs are recoverable unless there is a settlement.

While this dispute is running its course, the offending parties may continue to offer and distribute the infringing materials after being formally warned. If the works in question have not been formally registered, they are pretty much able to ignore the letters and threats from the lawyers of the copyright owner.

In cases where work has not been formally registered, the most powerful weapon of the writer may be an appeal to the court of public opinion - letting readers know about the infringement, naming names and exposing the theft of intellectual property for what it is. Companies that employ delaying tactics within the legal system sometimes change strategies when they face public exposure.

Timely Registration gives the writer far more clout in cases of infringement, and the process is not all that complicated or expensive. The layperson can fill out the registration forms (see below) and the fee is only $30.