Copyright Registration for Authors: Fundamentals and Benefits

Many people believe that a work must be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office to be protected by copyright. In fact, copyright attaches to a work as soon as it is created, and registration is optional. Registering your work provides several important benefits, though, so we strongly encourage authors to do so.

Infringement

Perhaps most importantly, if a work was first published in the United States or was authored by a U.S. national, domiciliary, or habitual resident, the copyright owner cannot bring a lawsuit for infringement until the Copyright Office has made a decision on a registration application—i.e., it has either registered or refused to register the work. In addition, registration is usually required for the copyright owner to be eligible for certain valuable remedies in court—namely, attorney’s fees and statutory damages, which can be up to $150,000 per work. To qualify for these, a work generally must be registered before the infringement begins or within three months after the work was first published.

Recordkeeping

Registration also provides important evidentiary and record-keeping benefits. In an infringement lawsuit, a registration establishes prima facie evidence of the validity of the copyright and the facts stated in the registration certificate, so long as the work was registered before or within five years after its first publication. Registration also allows the copyright owner to establish a record with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for protection against the importation of infringing copies.

New Editions

Registration can be made any time during the term of copyright. If you create a new edition of a previously registered work, you may need to register the new edition, depending on the nature of the changes. Any substantial changes or additions would not be protected under the original copyright registration. However, if the changes do not affect the substance of the work, then you would likely not need a new registration. For example, correcting spelling errors would not warrant a new registration, but adding an additional chapter would.

More Information

You can find much more information about copyright registration in our recent Copyright Registration 101 webinar and on the Copyright Office’s website.

In April 2025, the Copyright Office released a new Copyright Registration Toolkit, which covers the basics of copyright and walks creators through the registration process. Download the Copyright Registration Toolkit here (pdf).

Get Help with Copyright Registration

Our legal team can advise and assist you on every aspect of copyright registration. Regular and associate members of the Authors Guild can submit a legal request here.

Not a member? Learn more about the benefits of membership.