A photographer based in Italy with their spouse, asked this question:  “Does registration protect me if I’m in Italy and have a copyright violation?”

A lot of what the answer is has to do on where you want to sue, in the US or in Italy. We can only tell you what US law is, as Italian copyright law is different. At the bottom of this article is the text from the copyright office on International protection.

If you register in the US, you are protected in many countries, but the rights you have will vary by country based on the various treaties that each country has signed.  Circular 38a (http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ38a.pdf), put out by the U.S. Copyright Office, gives an overview of what treaties, and therefore what laws, apply in each country.  The local laws, if you’re depending on that, can vary widely. The laws protecting photographers in France are very favorable (and even more so to models). They are big on “moral rights”. In some countries, like Canada, laws do not favor photographers.  The person or company hiring the photographer has all the rights. The photographers in Canada have to negotiate to maintain copyright ownership.

Now here’s what they don’t explain at the Copyright Office, as they are not about litigation, only registration. If you shot something in Italy, registered it in the US, and it was infringed outside the US, say in Italy, you can sue in the US, if the infringer has a presence in the US. Say BP Oil infringed in Italy with one of your images and it shows up in their gas stations. If registered properly in the US, you can sue in US Federal court because they have a presence with gas stations here in the US (and presently offshore).

Best to talk to an Intellectual Property lawyer, and importantly, one who actually litigates. There are some lawyers who talk about copyright, but because they don’t litigate in court, what they know is what they read and interpret. In our opinion, it can be somewhat dicey at times. That’s not just for IP law, that’s also for other parts of the law like liability. A lot of lawyers try and settle cases. We know one lawyer who makes a great living being called in to litigate other lawyer’s cases. That’s because when the lead lawyers, if not litigators, can’t settle a case and have to go to court, they’re lost. They explain to their clients that they are “bringing in an expert” to better handle their case. That’s lawyer talk for, “I’m outta my area with this in court and need this lawyer to go to court.”

Other questions you should ask before hiring a lawyer, in addition to this one, are available in previous The Copyright Zone articles. Make sure to check them out if you plan on hiring a lawyer.

Below is the official word from the Copyright Office.

Keep sending questions folks.

Jack and Ed

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There is no such thing as an “international copyright” that will automatically protect an author’s writings throughout the world. Protection against unauthorized use in a particular country depends on the national laws of that country. However, most countries offer protection to foreign works under certain conditions that have been greatly simplified by international copyright treaties and conventions. There are two principal international copyright conventions, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Berne Convention) and the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC).

The United States became a member of the Berne Convention on March 1, 1989. It has been a member of the UCC since September 16, 1955. Generally, the works of an author who is a national or domiciliary of a country that is a member of these treaties or works first published in a member country or published within 30 days of first publication in a Berne Convention country may claim protection under the treaties. There are no formal requirements in the Berne Convention. Under the UCC, any formality in a national law can be satisfied by the use of a notice of copyright in the form and position specified in the UCC. A UCC notice should consist of the symbol © (C in a circle) accompanied by the year of first publication and the name of the copyright proprietor (example: © 2006 John Doe). This notice must be placed in such a manner and location as to give reasonable notice of the claim to copyright. Since the Berne Convention prohibits formal requirements that affect the “exercise and enjoyment” of the copyright, the United States changed its law on March 1, 1989, to make the use of a copyright notice optional. U.S. law however, still provides certain advantages for use of a copyright notice; for example, the use of a copyright notice can defeat a defense of “innocent infringement.” Even if a work cannot be brought under an international convention, protection may be available in other countries by virtue of a bilateral agreement between the United States and other countries or under specific provision of a country’s national laws. (See Circular 38a, International Copyright Relations of the United States.)

An author who desires copyright protection for his or her work in a particular country should first determine the extent of protection available to works of foreign authors in that country. If possible, this should be done before the work is published anywhere, because protection may depend on the facts existing at the time of first publication.
There are some countries that offer little or no copyright protection to any foreign works.
For current information on the requirements and protection provided by other countries, it may be advisable to consult an expert familiar with foreign copyright laws. The U. S. Copyright Office is not permitted to recommend agents or attorneys or to give legal advice on foreign laws.

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