Digital content has rapidly become the backbone for most businesses. The creativity that translates into digital works can be endless, from digital photos, videos, and graphics, to the business’s online website where this content lives, and the social media posts made to promote the business’s online presence even further. Unfortunately, given the nature of the digital landscape, it is now easier than ever for third parties to copy, share, and misuse a business’s assets. This is reason alone for why you should view copyright protection as an essential privilege to possess. Without further ado, please follow along to find out the measures that need to be taken to copyright your digital content and how a proficient New Jersey copyright lawyer at The Ingber Law Firm can help you through this formal registration process.
How do I register digital content for copyright protection?
The formal registration of your digital content starts with the United States Copyright Office’s Electronic Copyright Office (eCO) system. After creating your eCO account, you must complete the online form that most closely relates to your type of digital content. Namely, common categories include literary works, visual arts, sound recordings, motion pictures and audiovisual works, and performing arts.
If you are unsure which classification your creative work falls under, as it may combine multiple media types, one of our lawyers may help you file for what is known as a collective work registration. This may guarantee that, eventually, the official registration covers all the elements you need protected. From here, your lawyer may work to confirm the following:
- You complete the copyright application form fully and accurately.
- You pay the correct filing fee with a valid payment method.
- You upload a copy of your digital work in an acceptable digital file format.
- You receive updates on your online or paper filing within a reasonable timeframe.
Why is it better to formally register my digital content?
You may have heard that copyright protection begins automatically when a work is created and fixed in a tangible form. While this may be true, we still strongly recommend going through the formal registration process with the U.S. Copyright Office. And so, posting your work online is considered a means of establishing your original work in a tangible format. But as already mentioned, online platforms may make you extremely vulnerable to infringement, regardless of your automatic protections.
That said, while an official registration with the U.S. Copyright Office is an optional step in a general sense, it is actually a requirement if you ever wish to become a plaintiff in a copyright infringement case in the U.S. In other words, it is the only means for collecting incurred damages from a negligent third party in an incident of copying, sharing, or misusing your original work. This is not to mention that this registration helps you easily establish proof of ownership before the court, arguably better than any other type of evidence.
To conclude, no matter what specific intellectual property matter you are currently dealing with, a talented Essex County, New Jersey intellectual property lawyer from The Ingber Law Firm is willing and able to step in and facilitate the process. Retain our legal services today.