Your work is officially protected as soon as you create it, no need to register with the US Copyright Office.

However, just because registration is not strictly necessary does not mean that there are no excellent reasons to officially register your copyright. Let’s look at some of these reasons below.

1. You need a copyright registration before you can take legal action against someone for infringing your rights.

Being protected by copyright is one thing; defending that copyright in a court of law is quite another. If you want to sue someone for using your material without permission, you will need an official copyright registration.

2. It is extremely expensive to rush copyright registration.

More than 20 times more expensive, to be precise.

A leisurely copyright registration costs only $ 35. The process takes a few months. It is not a big thing.

Now suppose someone uses your work and can’t wait a few months; wants to take him to court immediately. You can certainly register your copyright after the fact, for $ 760. Isn’t it much simpler (and cheaper!) To register right away, before any legal mess?

3. Immediate registration allows you to recover legal fees.

If you register your copyright immediately (before the copyright infringement comes to light, or within three months after publication), you could seek compensation that includes legal damages and attorney’s fees.

However, if you register after a copyright infringement, or after three months have passed since publication, you will pay your own legal fees no matter how the lawsuit turns out. And, to make matters worse, you will only be able to recover the actual damages and lost profits.

4. The registry creates a public record of your work.

If you write a song, for example, and someone listens to it and wants to contact you and offer you money in exchange for license fees, wouldn’t you want it to be as easy as possible for that person to contact you?

With an official copyright registration, you will be able to provide an address and / or email address, with which you feel comfortable, for public inquiries. All you have to do is type in the name of your job and they will know exactly how you would like to be contacted about it. Simple!

With all these reasons to protect it with the US Copyright Office, $ 35 doesn’t seem like a lot. Protect your job, and your rights, today!