Intellectual property can be a confusing field through which to navigate. Intellectual property lawyer Fred Wilf, of the law firm Morgan Lewis, explains copyright.

Copyright protects the expression of an idea––such as particular artwork or text. “Copyrights can apply to software, marketing brochures, artwork, and writing. These are all expressions of ideas,” he explains. Although copyright law was developed to protect books, and some of the copyright jargon is book jargon, copyright law is much broader. The protected expression is called a “work” and the process of creating a work is call “authorship.”

“Copyright applies to any work of authorship. In the U.S., the law attaches to the work as soon as the work is saved to a tangible medium, for example, as soon as pen touches paper or a computer-based work is saved to a disk.”

Copyright registration is recommended. If you’re a U.S.-based company or a U.S. resident, and are creating a work in the U.S., Wilf recommends, “you should seriously consider filing a copyright application.” It’s easy and inexpensive—it only costs $30 and you can file the applications yourself. Forms are available from http://www.copyright.gov.

”You can download [the application], fill it out and send it in quickly, and if approved, it’s valid as of the date the office receives the application.” Copyright protection last the life of the author plus 70 years, in the case of an individual author. In the case of a corporate author, copyright is valid for 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever expires first.

“Keep in mind, if you don’t file for copyright protection and believe that your copyright has been infringed, you won’t be able to sue an infringer unless you have a copyright registration. It’s best to file before there’s a problem,” Wilf recommends. In copyright law, if you file before you are ripped off, and you win, you can have the defendant pay your legal fees. If you sue and win, you’ll have the option of asking for statutory damages, which are an alternative form of damages.

“Once you are in court,” Wilf explained, “you always have the right to ask the judge to award actual damages, which is roughly the amount of money you lost because of the infringement, plus the money made by the infringer. However, if the infringer was caught before you lost much money or before the infringer made much money, actual damages will not be very high.

“That’s where statutory damages come into play,” says Wilf. “With statutory damages, the judge picks a dollar amount between a few hundred dollars at the low end to over one hundred thousand dollars at the high end, per work infringed.” It’s a good way to punish the infringer.” However, Wilf noted, “you can’t ask for statutory damages unless you have filed your copyright application before the infringer ripped you off.”

Thus, all businesses need to understand how copyright law protects their assets and when they should file applications to register their copyrights to maximize the protection of those assets. “When it comes to copyright applications,” say Wilf, “you should file early and often.”

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