by Thomas James, Law Office of Tom James, Cokato MN
This week, the Copyright Alliance and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation and Policy Center (GPIC) hosted a program called A Conversation on Diversity and Inclusion in Copyright. The objective of the program was “to discuss ways to promote and facilitate increased participation from underrepresented communities.” ( www.msk.com/newsroom-events-1343.)
Data on racial and ethnic disparities in copyright registration behavior are hard to come by. A George Washington University Faculty Research Paper, however, presented research findings that some might find surprising. Black authors and creators, these professors report, are actually over-represented among copyright registrants. Apparently, it is Hispanic-origin authors who are under-represented.
Regardless of the rationale for doing it, it is good to see that the long-standing economic unfairness of the U.S. copyright registration system is finally coming to the fore.
To give you an idea of the nature of the problem, consider this: The registration fee for a single work is currently $125 ($65 if you file online). With the exception of the lucky few who score jobs as technical writers (whose copyrights are almost always owned by their employers, not them), the going rate for article writers is $0 to $20 per article. Meanwhile, due to the proliferation of free music on the Internet, the average songwriter can expect to make $0 or less per song. Only a tiny percentage of songwriters make enough money to cover the cost of registering a copyright in a song. As for painters, well, there’s a reason “starving artist” is such a familiar expression.
Learn how to register music copyrights yourself
The United States and most other countries, by treaty, do not require a work to be registered in order to be protected by copyright. A work is protected by copyright the moment it is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. That’s great, but owning a copyright won’t do you much good if you need a registration certificate to enforce it. As I said in an Illinois Law Review article, the United States should eliminate its pre-litigation registration requirement.
Maybe the diversity, equity and inclusion movement will finally impel some Congressional action toward that end.
Need help registering a copyright? Contact Thomas James at the Law Office of Tom James. I also offer online courses.
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