violation of GPLv2 - remedies?

[Wendy Seltzer]

At 11:44 PM 5/12/02 -0700, Karsten M. Self wrote:
>on Thu, May 09, 2002, Karsten M. Self (kmself at ix.netcom.com) wrote:
> > on Wed, May 08, 2002, Mahesh T Pai (paivakil at yahoo.co.in) wrote:
>
><...>
>
>[Attribution lost]
>
> > > >How drastically does the situation change if the publisher never
> > > >bothered to officially register the copyright with the library of
> > > >congress?
> > > >
> > > Registration does not make any difference
> >
> > This statement is patently false under US law:
> >
> >     http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/411.html
> >
> > Peace.
>
>I've received several off-list responses to this comment, including one
>appearing to be from the author of the comment I replied to.
>
>My response:
>
>   - I stand by my statement.  Registration confers, 17 USC 411, states
>     several explicit requirements for registration in infringement
>     actions.  Registration makes a difference.

Specifically, registration prior to the infringement (or within three 
months of first publication) is a prerequisite to statutory damages and 
attorneys fees.  The copyright holder is still "protected" without 
registration, but the protection may not have so high a dollar 
value.  (Actual damages are often difficult to prove, while statutory 
damages can reach $150,000 per willful infringement.)

<http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/412.html>
<http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/504.html>

--Wendy

--
Wendy Seltzer -- wendy at seltzer.com
Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/seltzer.html
Chilling Effects: http://www.chillingeffects.org/

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