9th Circuit Answers Question What It Means to "Register" a Copyrighted Work
The Ninth Circuit today answered a question that has split both circuit and district courts, namely, what it means to "register" a copyrighted work for purposes of Section 411(a) of the Copyright Act, which makes registration of a copyright a prerequisite to bringing an infringement suit.
The district court apparently followed what the Ninth Circuit referred to as the "registration approach," which concludes that a copyright is registered at the time the Copyright Office acts on the application and issues a registration certificate.
After examining the unhelpful language of the statute and guided by the broader context of the statute and its purpose, the Ninth Circuit rejected that approach in favor of the "application approach," which holds that a copyright is registered at the time the application is received by the Copyright Office. Thus, the Ninth Circuit held "that receipt by the Copyright Office of a complete application satisfies the registration requirement" of Section 411(a).
In addition, following the Supreme Court's decision in Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick, 130 S. Ct. 1237 (2010), the Ninth Circuit held that the district court erred in concluding that Section 411(a)'s registration requirement was a jurisdictional prerequisite to suit that deprived the court of subject matter jurisdiction.
The case cite is Cosmetic Ideas, Inc. v. IAC/InteractiveCorp, No. 08-56079 (9th Cir. May 25, 2010).
