New Copyright Office Rules Protect News Websites Against Content Theft
With limited exceptions, copyright owners cannot sue to enforce their statutory rights against plagiarists until they have obtained a federal copyright registration. On July 22, 2024, the United States Copyright Office adopted rules to make registration for frequently updated news websites easier. The new rule gives added protection to news websites and helps them defend against content theft. Obtaining timely registrations will allow news websites to quickly seek relief in court, obtain statutory damages without the need to prove actual damages, and be eligible to recover their attorney fees.
How Has the Copyright Office Made Registration Easier?
The Copyright Office created a new group registration option, known as Group Registration for Updates to a News Website. It allows news publishers to register frequently updated news websites as collective works with a deposit composed of identifying material representing sufficient portions of the works included, rather than the complete contents of the website. In short, every time a website is updated, only the updates and not the entire website need to be submitted for registration. This reduces the cost and administrative burden of registration.
Applicants for registration will use a new application form specifically designed for this group option and submit the application through the electronic Copyright Office (eCO) registration portal.
Why Was a New Rule Adopted?
The rapid pace at which internet materials are created and updated presents a challenge for copyright owners seeking to protect online news works. Online news publishers expressed concern that the registration options available to them were expensive and burdensome.
The era of aggregator news websites made the old registration rules obsolete. Many news websites found their content being used by so-called “local news” applications and websites that aggregate news for particular industries or topics. At least some of the time, these aggregators infringe the copyright in the articles they display to their users.
In Mississippi, for example, a group of newspapers is, for the second time, suing a “local news” application that allegedly reposted part or all of thousands of news stories. The court dismissed much of the original lawsuit because the newspapers had not obtained copyright registrations. While failing to timely register can be cured, newspapers and other online news publishers cannot seek attorney fees or statutory damages without a timely registration before the copyright violation occurs.
The overarching goal of copyright laws comes from the Constitution: “The Congress shall have Power . . . To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” The framers of the Constitution believed the dissemination of knowledge was of critical importance and that establishing a national copyright system was an efficient means to advance that goal. The copyright registration process promotes that goal.
Benefits of Copyright Registration
Copyright registration comes with a presumption of ownership and gives notice to the world of the copyrighted publication. With a timely registration, which is a registration within three months of the work’s publication or before any copyright infringement begins, a copyright plaintiff is entitled to statutory damages of up to $150,000 per willful infringement and may be awarded attorney fees for the expense of prosecuting an infringement action. Without a timely registration, a copyright infringement plaintiff is only entitled to recoup its actual damages or to a disgorgement of the infringing parties’ profits attributable to the infringement. The expert testimony and legal fees necessary to prove these damages can be significant, if they can be proven at all. Timely registration makes enforcing copyright rights much more economically advantageous.
Timely registration, with the threat of statutory damages and attorney fees, can make copyright infringement cases much easier to resolve. Without a timely registration, the defendant can assert defenses that increase litigation costs without the fear of having to pay the additional attorney fees created by those defenses. Moreover, if the defendant prevails, it may be able to recover its own attorney fees, regardless of the timeliness of the registration. That change in litigation leverage is a significant incentive to utilize the new Group Registration for Updates to a News Website rules.
Please contact Mary Ellen Roy, Andrew Coffman or any member of the Phelps Media and First Amendment Law team if you have questions or would like further guidance.
