Ever since the Copyright Act of 1976, which took effect in 1978, copyright has been granted in a work merely by fixing it into a tangible medium of expression. This is a fact we already covered.

However, the fact you have all of the rights over your work does not mean you have the ability to enforce them. In the United States, an additional step is required if you want to take legal action over copyright infringement, you have to first register it with the U.S. Copyright Office.

This has caused many content creators on the Web, including freelance writers, to wonder if they should be registering their works. Unfortunately, this is a very personal decision and there is no real right or wrong answer. Instead, it’s a matter of understanding what is gained by registering your work and deciding if it is worth the time, effort and expense to do so.

However, if you’re a freelance writer and your content is not being considered a work for hire, this is something you need to at least consider seriously as the consequences for not understanding the risks can be dire.. [Read more…]