Boden Davidson, Esq.

Is registration with the U.S. Copyright Office required to protect a copyright?

While registration is not required to have a common law copyright, it is required to be able to sue for copyright infringement in the United States. Copyright registration in the U.S. is not mandatory, rather it is voluntary, but there are several advantages to doing so. As mentioned, you

What is copyrightable?

In the most basic terms, a copyright subsists in an expression of original creativity. Only the actual expression can be copyrighted; ideas cannot be copyrighted.

What is a "work-for-hire"?

The work-for-hire doctrine dictates the authorship of a work for the purposes of copyright, when the work is made by one person or a company for another. This is an important nuance in copyright law and warrants a consultation with your attorney when entering into any arrangement where a work

When should a copyright be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office?

Ideally, you should register your copyright on the day that the work is published anywhere in the world, e.g. the date of first publication. The best approach is to work with your lawyer to get the application together and ready for submission on your planned publication date. At the

Do I have to register my copyright if I have submitted a pre-registration to the U.S. Copyright Office?

Yes, normal registration upon or after publication is necessary even if you have pre-registered your copyright. A work can only be registered once it has been published, and conversely, a work that has already been published cannot be pre-registered. A valid pre-registration does not automatically become the registration for the

What is the DMCA?

The DMCA is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a U.S. federal law which builds on the Copyright Act to address some of the problems with the infringement of intellectual property on the internet. The primary provisions of the DMCA are an anti-circumvention rule and the internet service provider (ISP)

What are some of the common file sharing programs?

There are a variety of peer-to-peer (P2P) and BitTorrent file sharing clients, used to seed and download media files and executable programs. * ABC * Artic Torrent * Ares Galaxy * Azureus * BitComet * BitLord * BitRocket * BitSpirit * BitTornado * BitTorrent * BitTyrant * Bits on Wheels * BTPD * Burst! * CTorrent * DelugeTorrent * eDonkey * Enhanced CTorrent * eMule * eXeem * FlashGet * Free Download