Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New Jersey

There is a difference between owning a copyright and having a copyright registered. 17 USC �102(a) states that "Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression ...." That means that copyright protection arises when the work is created. Notice and registration are not necessary. As a matter of good practice, a copyright notice should be placed on every work in which the author asserts a copyright because, among other things, it defeats the defense of innocent infringement. See 17 USC �401. Registration is a different matter. There are several different reasons for registering a copyritht. As a matter of good business practice, a copyright should be registered whenever the work itself or any expected derivative works has commercial value. Among the advantages of registration is the availability of statutory damages and attorney fees for infringement. � Now that you know all that, the answer to the question that you thought you were asking is that a registration will cover only one work. So, if you think that your work will have commercial value and you want to be able to sue for infringement, you should register each work. � See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm