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October 23, 2025

Top Five Reasons Why Copyright Registration is Important

by Rachel Kim

Copyright registration is one of the most important things a creator can do to protect themselves and their rights in their creativities. Though copyright protections are automatic, there are many reasons why filing a copyright registration application with the U.S. Copyright Office is worth your time, effort, and resources.

If you are a creator who has previously considered registering your works but decided not to, now may be a good time to reconsider that decision. In recent AI-related copyright infringement litigation, it’s become more apparent than ever that copyright registration needs to be a crucial component of a creator’s process and business. Here are the top five reasons why copyright registration is important and why copyright owners need to register their works.

If a work is infringed, a copyright owner can bring a copyright infringement suit in federal court only if they have either:

  • a certificate of copyright registration from the U.S. Copyright Office for the work that is the subject of an infringement claim, or
  • a formal written refusal of the registration application from the U.S. Copyright Office for that work.

Similarly, if a copyright owner wants to bring an action in the Copyright Office’s small-claims copyright tribunal, the Copyright Claims Board (CCB), the work that is the subject of an infringement claim must either (i) be registered prior to bringing the claim, or (ii) (at the very least) the registration application must be pending with the Copyright Office at the time the claim is filed with the CCB. So, the key is that the copyright owner must have at least filed a registration application for the work before filing a CCB claim over the infringement of that work.

Filing a registration application for the work as soon as possible is good practice to ensure there are no delays in filing an infringement lawsuit in federal court or an infringement claim in the CCB. Otherwise, you may be delayed in bringing an infringement lawsuit or CCB claim and risk missing the limited period of time in which you can bring the lawsuit (also known as the statute of limitations).

Another key benefit is that having a copyright registration certificate can act as proof of a valid copyright in court or in the CCB, if the registration application was filed before or within five years after first publication of the work.

What this means is that during a lawsuit or CCB proceeding, the party bringing a copyright infringement claim doesn’t have to prove that the work is protected by copyright or that other facts contained in the registration certificate, such as ownership information, are correct because the court or CCB will be required to presume that the facts in the copyright registration certificate are correct. Instead, the burden will be on the alleged infringer to prove that work is not protected by copyright or that the facts in the copyright registration certificate, such as ownership, are incorrect. Thus, timely registering copyrighted works reduces the legal burden and resources needed for the copyright owner in an infringement case.

3. Ability to Recover Statutory Damages and Attorneys’ Fees

Once a court or the CCB rules that infringement has occurred and monetary damages should be awarded, another key copyright registration benefit becomes instrumental to the copyright owner. To understand this registration benefit, you need to understand that there are two types of monetary damages that are awarded in copyright infringement cases:

  • actual damages, e.g., the exact monetary amounts lost by the copyright owner because of the infringement or the monetary amounts gained by the infringer arising from the infringing activities, or
  • statutory damages, i.e., a monetary range set by the Copyright Act that is awarded per infringed work (usually between $750 and $30,000 per work, as determined by the court).

Actual damages are much harder to prove than statutory damages because the copyright owner must show how much damage was done by the infringement through evidence like receipts and contracts. That can be difficult, time consuming, and expensive to do. On the other hand, statutory damages empower the copyright owner to request a pre-determined amount for damages, instead of proving damages. To obtain a statutory damage award, the copyright owner need only prove the infringement occurred and does not need to establish damages caused by the infringement. In addition, by timely registering the works, the copyright owner may also be able to get his or her attorneys’ costs covered in federal court.

The key to recovering statutory damages and attorneys’ fees in federal court lies in the timing of a registration. The Copyright Act states that to be eligible for an award of statutory damages and attorneys’ fees in a copyright infringement case, the copyrighted work must be registered (i) before infringement commences, or (ii) if the work is published, within three months of publication.

Different from federal court, in a CCB proceeding, a work does not need to be timely registered for the copyright owner to be awarded statutory damages. However, for works that are not timely registered, statutory damages are more limited in the CCB. In those instances, the CCB can award a maximum of $7,500 per infringed work and a total of $15,000 for all infringed works not timely registered, instead of $15,000 per infringed work and a total of $30,000 in any single proceeding.

The statutory damages benefit is one of the most important reasons why copyright owners should register their works as soon as possible.

4. Participating In Class Action Lawsuits

As seen in one highly-publicized copyright class-action lawsuit, in order to participate in a copyright class-action lawsuit, courts often require that a work has been timely registered with the Copyright Office (within three months of publication or before the infringement occurs). Copyright owners who did not timely register their works, may not be eligible to participate in the lawsuit and in any outcomes of the lawsuit, including settlements. That is why creators and copyright owners need to file for registration as soon as they are able—a timely registration can determine whether a creator is able to recover at least some compensation for the injuries caused to them by widespread infringing acts of others in a class action lawsuit.

5. Satisfying Deposit Requirements

Subject to some exceptions, copyright owners are required to deposit two copies their works with the Library of Congress within three months after the works have been published. This is known as the mandatory deposit requirement. But when a registration application is submitted to the Copyright Office, the copies of works submitted with that application will usually satisfy the Library of Congress’ independent deposit requirements. Though copyright owners may not usually be concerned about deposit requirements they are still an important part of the Copyright Act and can be easily fulfilled by filing a copyright registration application.

Conclusion

Copyright registration is crucial for copyright owners to do as a regular part of their process and business practice. It provides copyright owners key benefits like the ability to sue in federal court or file claims in the CCB, proof of a valid copyright ownership, the ability to recover statutory damages and attorneys’ fees, the ability to participate in class action lawsuits, and ease of satisfying deposit requirements.

To learn more about other benefits of copyright registration, check out our FAQ page or sign up to be a Creator Member with the Copyright Alliance for free.

If you aren’t already a member of the Copyright Alliance, you can join today by completing our Individual Creator Members membership form! Members gain access to monthly newsletters, educational webinars, and so much more — all for free!

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