Greensboro, N.C. – Carruthers & Roth Intellectual Property Attorney Michael J. Allen was recently quoted in the U.S. News & World Report article, “Do You Need to Protect Your Work Under Copyright Law?” The article, published on March 27, provides an overview of copyright infringement and discusses steps to take and factors to consider before filing a copyright infringement lawsuit. Allen discusses the need of a copyright owner to obtain a copyright registration from the U.S. Copyright Office before filing suit for infringement of that copyright. Excerpt from the article:
“In Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, the U.S. Supreme Court held that, except in limited circumstances allowed by statute, a claimant may only commence a copyright infringement lawsuit after the Copyright Office registers the copyright—not after just submitting the application for registration,” says attorney of Carruthers & Roth, P.A. “Based on this March 2019 decision, anyone filing suit for copyright infringement can expect to have their infringement claims dismissed if they can’t establish the U.S. Copyright Office has rendered a final decision on issuance of a registration of the work alleged to have been infringed.” He also advises that a copyright owner should consider all relevant factors and circumstances, as well as potential outcomes, before pursuing an infringement lawsuit.
Excerpt from the article:
“There is no one-size-fits-all answer,” Allen says. “The short answer is that filing a copyright infringement lawsuit is a good idea when the copyright owner has not been able to satisfactorily resolve the dispute with the defendant without filing suit, and the copyrighted work and other interests involved are sufficiently important to the owner that suit is a good option.”
To read the full U.S. News & World Report article, please click on the following link: https://lawyers.usnews.com/legal-advice/filing-a-copyright-lawsuit/154