At 11:44 PM 5/12/02 -0700, Karsten M. Self wrote: >on Thu, May 09, 2002, Karsten M. Self ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > > on Wed, May 08, 2002, Mahesh T Pai ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > ><...> > >[Attribution lost] > > > > >How drastically does the situation change if the publisher never > > > >bothered to officially register the copyright with the library of > > > >congress? > > > > > > > Registration does not make any difference > > > > This statement is patently false under US law: > > > > http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/411.html > > > > Peace. > >I've received several off-list responses to this comment, including one >appearing to be from the author of the comment I replied to. > >My response: > > - I stand by my statement. Registration confers, 17 USC 411, states > several explicit requirements for registration in infringement > actions. Registration makes a difference.
Specifically, registration prior to the infringement (or within three months of first publication) is a prerequisite to statutory damages and attorneys fees. The copyright holder is still "protected" without registration, but the protection may not have so high a dollar value. (Actual damages are often difficult to prove, while statutory damages can reach $150,000 per willful infringement.) <http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/412.html> <http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/504.html> --Wendy -- Wendy Seltzer -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/seltzer.html Chilling Effects: http://www.chillingeffects.org/ -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3