Why Bother with Copyrights???
Showcase Interviews Robert Rotstein, Esq.
Attorney and novelist Robert Rotstein’s latest legal drama, We, the Jury, is a USA Today best seller and a Suspense Magazine Best Thriller of 2018. With James Patterson, Rotstein wrote The Family Lawyer, the title story of the New York Times best-selling collection. He practices intellectual property law and has represented all the major movie studios and record companies, as well as prominent directors and writers. We asked him about copyrights.
Showcase: We hear increasingly that, “With the internet, why shouldn’t writers just share everything they write, for free?”
Rotstein: Copyright law has for centuries incentivized authors to write, painters to paint, composers to compose, etc. In America, this incentive system isn’t focused on the author but on the public. A diverse body of artistic works is essential to a democracy, our founders believed. If writers couldn’t generate income, we’d probably have far more investment bankers in our nation and far fewer expressive works.
Showcase: When does a work become copyrighted?
Rotstein: As soon as it’s “fixed in a tangible medium of expression” – meaning as soon as it’s written down on a piece of papers or saved to a computer hard drive.
Showcase: Does an author have to register with the U.S. copyright office?
Rotstein: As my previous answer indicates, no. But there are advantages to registration. If you register and later sue someone for infringement, you can possibly recover your attorney’s fees and what are called “statutory damages” – an alternative to proving actual harm. And, you can’t bring an infringement suit until you register.
Showcase: Does the author get any kind of formal certificate?
Rotstein: The Copyright Office will issue a registration certificate.
Showcase: What can happen to an author who uses someone else’s copyrighted work?
Rotstein: A plaintiff in a copyright infringement case can recover actual damages and the defendant’s profits resulting from the infringement. Suppose Peter Plagiarist copies your book and sells it to Illegal Copying Co. If the publisher had bought the book from you, they would’ve paid you $35,000. You can recover that amount as actual damages. If Illegal Copying made two million in profits from the book, you can recover that, too.
If you register your work, you might also recover attorney’s fees. And, if you can’t show actual damages or profits (say, Plagiarist’s book was a flop), you can recover what the law calls “statutory damages” as an alternative – $750 and $30,000 per work and up to $150,000 per work if the infringement was willful.
Showcase: Do you foresee important changes in the future of copyright law?
Rotstein: There has been talk about a wholesale revision to the current copyright act, which was passed in 1976, but I don’t think a major change is imminent. Congress did just pass a bill modernizing the laws governing music in light of the emergence of streaming companies like Pandora, Spotify, and others.
Showcase: Thanks. Anything else you’d want to add?
Rotstein: Thank you so much for inviting me!
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This material is for informational purposes only, is general in nature,
and is not intended to and should not be relied upon or construed as
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