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Why Artists Should Register Copyrights to Their Work
The great thing about US copyright law is that copyright ownership applies automatically to any work the artist creates; as long as the work itself is not a copyright violation. (Taking a photo of a photo, for example, would be a copyright infringement.) The not-so-great thing about US copyright law is that if you don't register copyright ownership to your work, you're pretty much giving it away if it's published in any form; especially if it's published on the Internet. Casual artists who post poetry or vacation photos online may not care so much if someone illegally uses their art. Professional artists who earn income from their work, however, must register copyright ownership to that work if they want full legal protection. The main problem with unregistered copyrights is that they are not financially feasible to enforce. If your work is not registered and somebody steals it and uses it, all you can collect are "actual damages" which means how much money they earned from your work. While you might be able to stop the infringer with a "cease and desist" letter you wrote yourself; if that doesn't work, you'll have to hire an attorney. Most artists don't have the financial resources for that, especially when you consider that you're only able to sue for actual damages. If someone sold $100 worth of posters featuring a drawing of yours, it could cost you $20,000 to bring them to court, and all you can collect is $100. Registering your work, however, entitles you to sue for your legal fees in addition to actual damages, AND the court can also award punitive damages. For visual art, damages can be as high as $150,000 per image. Knowing that you will be recovering your legal fees makes bringing someone to trial much more feasible. Go to www.copyright.gov to read more about copyright and to learn how to register your work.
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