It’s understandable that you’d want to preserve your unique work, which you’ve put a lot of time and effort into making. Getting copyright doesn’t guarantee that no one will try to steal or profit from your work, but it does provide you the option of filing a copyright and trademark infringement action to stop them and seek monetary damages for the losses you’ve suffered. Though it may appear impossible to put a monetary value on your losses, three legal theories have been formed specifically to assist in quantifying your loss. These are the three theories:
- Statutory damages
- Profits
- Actual damages
Statutory damages are those determined by law to address infringement of a work registered with the United States Copyright Office. If infringements cannot be convincingly demonstrated, damages range from $750 to $30,000 per infringement, depending on the severity of the infringement and the infringer’s assets. Though an innocent infringer may only be fined a small sum, malicious infringers have been known to be fined up to $150,000 for a single infringement. The requirement that the work is registered either before the infringement occurs or within three months of its publication further complicates the situation, thus it is critical that you take the appropriate actions to establish a copyright.
Despite the fact that statutory damages are mandated by law, the victim of copyright infringement has the option of seeking actual damages rather than statutory damages. Actual damages are the monetary losses suffered by the owner of the work as a result of the wrongdoing, whether in the form of missed sales, licensing revenue, or any other type of loss that can be shown. Actual damages are typically assessed by forensic accountants or by expert witness testimony.
Finally, a victim of copyright or trademark infringement may attempt to recover earnings made by the offender as a result of their illegal actions. This alternative is only accessible if the infringer’s earnings are greater than the actual damages caused by the victim.
Though copyright regulations can be confusing, it is critical to safeguard the integrity of your work. Contact our office immediately for more information on how to protect your work by registering a copyright or prosecuting an infringer of your intellectual work.