The Importance Of Registration Of Copyright

THE IMPORTANCE OF REGISTRATION OF COPYRIGHT

JOSE EDUARDO NUÑEZ DURAN



INTRODUCTION.





In this work, the concept of copyright registration will be reviewed. It will be demonstrated that even though neither international law nor British law require registration for copyright subsistence, copyright registration plays a very important role in evidentiary terms. For demonstratingthis, early British case law concerning registration of copyright and the copyright registration systems of some countries will be studied.

This work will explain the important concept of prima facie evidence of copyright proprietorship. I will demonstrate the fact that copyright registration of copyright works do not harm the exercise and enjoyment of copyrights; on the contrary, legalcertainty in copyright titles is acquired.

I will show how different legal systems of the world maintain a permissive copyright registration system, and due to this it is up to copyright owners to take advantage of copyright registration.

It will be demonstrated that even in the United Kingdom is possible to register copyright works before the Stationers’ Hall Company of London.

I willexplain some reasons that will lead us to the conclusion that it is better to register a copyright work than not registering it.
THE IMPORTANCE OF REGISTRATION OF COPYRIGHT



1. Legal history of registration of copyright in the United Kingdom.


Today, in the United Kingdom, copyright subsistence does not depend on any registration, deposit or other formality. If an author wishes tocopyright his work in this country need no to concern himself about such matters. Early British laws required registration in order to obtain the benefits granted by statutory provisions.

The first act in the United Kingdom related to copyright was the Act of Anne.[1] This Statute required registration as a precondition for granting protection.[2] However, registration was not necessary tocomplete copyright. The main proponent of this Act was the London Company of Stationers.[3]


By the decision of Beckford v. Hood in 1789, registration was reduced to the level of a technical prerequisite to suit for statutory penalties.[4]

The 1842 Statute of Victoria in 1842 superseded the Act of Anne.[5] Under this Statute, the omission of registration did not affect thevalidity of copyright. Queen Victoria enacted an International Copyright Act in 1844.[6] All these statutes provided in common that the proprietor’s right to sue depended upon registration in the Stationers’ Hall Company.


The Royal Copyright Commission 1875-1878 observed that few books were in fact registered.[7] Notwithstanding this, it was decided to maintain the copyright registrationsystem since “…in the absence of registration, English authors might find it difficult to enforce their rights in other countries. It is admitted to be a convenience to an author to be able, under an international convention, to produce as evidence a copy of the register. Instead of being obliged to prove by witnesses his authorship and right.”[8]


The Berne Convention on copyright wasadopted in 1886. This Convention adopted the principle that the enjoyment and exercise of rights under the Convention are not subject to any formality. In the 1908 Berlin Revision of the Convention the abolishing of formalities became more compelling. For this reason, in the 1911 copyright act, the requirements related to registration of copyright were definitely eliminated. This trend has beenfollowed by both the Copyright Act 1956 and the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.




The British have never had a strong public registration system. Therefore it is considered that an effective Copyright law does not stand or fall on public registration.[9]




1.1. British Case Law on Copyright registration.

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, many...