THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPER COPYRIGHT REGISTRATIONThe case involved the interpretation of 17 U.S.C. §411(b) which provides a safe harbor for applicants who inadvertently supply inaccurate information to the U.S. Copyright Office. A valid copyright is quintessential to enforcing one’s copyright through actions for infringement.

On February 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P. that the safe harbor provision concerning inaccurate information in copyright registrations, as set forth at 17 U.S.C. § 411(b), does not distinguish between mistakes of law and mistakes of fact, and thus that the inclusion of inaccurate information in a registration does not invalidate the registration when the inaccuracy is the result of a good faith misunderstanding of the law. The Court vacated the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s decision that the safe harbor afforded by 17 U.S.C. § 411(b)(1)(A) does not apply to a failure to understand the law.

While the lower court reduced that award down to under $300,000, it also rejected H&M’s post-trial copyright invalidity arguments without seeking any input from the Copyright Office. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit reversed the decision and agreed with H&M that the asserted registration contains inaccuracies that may support invalidation under Section 411 of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 411. The appellate court thus instructed the lower court to reconsider the threshold validity issues, butonly afterit complied with Section 411(b)(2) by asking the Register of Copyrights whether it would have refused the registration if it was aware of alleged inaccuracies in the claim of a single unit group of works with a singular first publication date.The district court complied and inquired of the Register of Copyrights in September 2020 and April 2021, but the Office has not yet responded.

The U.S. Supreme Court rendered a unanimous decision in an opinion penned by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg regarding whether 17 U.S.C. § 411’s requirement that “registration” must be “made” requires the Copyright Office to issue a registration (the “registration approach”), or merely requires plaintiff to apply for one (the “application approach”) before a lawsuit is filed. Based on the text and structure of the Copyright Act, the Court adopted the “registration approach,” resolving a circuit split.

After applying to register its copyrights in the articles—but before the Copyright Office acted—Fourth Estate sued Wall-Street.com for infringement. The district court dismissed Fourth Estate’s case, and the Eleventh Circuit affirmed, relying on the plain meaning of 17 U.S.C. § 411 in concluding that copyright “registration,” a precondition to a copyright infringement claim, “can occur only after application and examination.” Fourth Estate Pub. Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, 856 F.3d 1338, 1341 (11th Cir. 2017).While the ordinary meaning of “registration” would seem to encompass the copyright’s issuance, the courts of appeals have split on what the “registration” condition in section 411(a) requires.

And why is a certain Albanian television company unlikely to forget that definition any time soon?As we’ve previously discussed, plaintiffs must register their work with the Copyright Office before filing suit in a U.S. court. Section 411(a) of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 411(a), provides that:No civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until . . . registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title.There is currently a circuit split over Section 411(a)’s definition of “registration,” which you can read about here.

As we’ve previously discussed, plaintiffs must register their work with the Copyright Office before filing suit in a U.S. court. Section 411(a) of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 411(a), provides that: No civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until . . . registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title. There is currently a circuit split over Section 411(a)’s definition of “registration,” which you can read about here.

The answer is NO if the mistakes were made without knowledge!To bring suit for copyright infringement under U.S. law, 17 U.S.C. § 411(a) states in part:(a) Except for an action brought for a violation of the rights of the author under section 106A(a), and subject to the provisions of subsection (b), no civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until preregistration or registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title. In any case, however, where the deposit, application, and fee required for registration have been delivered to the Copyright Office in proper form and registration has been refused, the applicant is entitled to institute a civil action for infringement if notice thereof, with a copy of the complaint, is served on the Register of Copyrights…In addition, 17 U.S.C. § 411(b) states in part:(1) A certificate of registration satisfies the requirements of this section and section 412, regardless of whether the certificate contains any inaccurate information, unless—(A) the inaccurate information was included on the application for c

In Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., the Supreme Court held that under 17 USC 411(b)(1)(A) a certificate of registration is valid even though it contains inaccurate information, as long as the copyright holder lacked “knowledge that is was inaccurate.”Unicolors owned copyrights in various fabric designs, and sued H&M for copyright infringement.

The U.S. Supreme Court held today that bringing a suit for copyright infringement requires that the infringed work actually be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, and that a mere application for registration will not suffice.The ruling makes it even more imperative that copyright holders register their works promptly if they wish to enforce their rights—on top of the already considerable financial incentives that the U.S. copyright regime provides for registered works.While expedited registration at the Copyright Office remains available to copyright claimants for a fee, the Court’s new ruling is most likely to impact copyright holders for whom a delay of even a few weeks in bringing suit could prove irreparable—particularly those seeking temporary restraining orders or other preliminary injunctive relief.The Supreme Court’s Holding: Registered means registered, not applied-for.17 U.S.C. § 411 generally requires that any copyright claimant must have registered or preregistered their copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office before they can bring suit.Except for an action brought for a violation of the rights of the author under section 106A(a), and subject to the provisions of subsection (b), no civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until preregistration or registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title. . . .17 U.S.C. § 411(a).