Here is just some more info with regard to copyright law and lawsuits. Thought it may help as there is mention of "time frames" regarding registration.
Here is the link for the pdf file:
http://www.apanational.com/files/public/keytoprotection.pdfHIGHLIGHT:A copyright without copyright registration is next to worthless.
But in reality, a copyright without copyright registration is next to worthless. Why? Well, to start
off, you can’t even file a copyright lawsuit in Federal Court without actually filing a copyright
registration. Secondly, if the copyright infringement that you are suing about occurred over 90
days prior to your copyright registration, you are denied two real big sticks in the copyright law -
court costs - including attorney’s fees and statutory damages. These are very big sticks indeed.
The US Copyright Office explains registration as the following: “Copyright Registration is a legal
formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright. However,
even though registration is not a requirement for protection, the copyright law provides several
inducements or advantages to encourage copyright owners to make registration.”
Among these advantages are the following:
• Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim.
• Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of
U.S. origin.
• If made before or within 5 years of publication, registration will establish prima facie
evidence in court of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate.
• If registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an
infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney’s fees will be available to the
copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits
is available to the copyright owner.
• Registration allows the owner of the copyright to record the registration with the U. S.
Customs Service for protection against the importation of infringing copies.
What this basically means is that an “author” of a copyrighted work gets the full remedies under
the law only if the copyrighted work is registered prior to an infringement. Otherwise, the best
you can hope for is an award of actual damages or profits lost — both of which can be difficult to
prove or may end up being less than the costs of mounting a lawsuit in the first place. Talk to an
IP (Intellectual Property) attorney and one of the very first questions he will probably ask is “is it
registered?”.