The Commpliance Group : Copyright Monitoring & Compliance

Copyright Monitoring & Compliance

Copyrighting your business’ materials will help you ensure that you control how and when your work is reproduced and/or distributed. The lack of adequate copyright protection can open the door for unjust competition by other companies.

The Commpliance Group will help your business identify all business material that is eligible for copyright protection. This includes material posted on website, valuable business plans and marketing materials.

After our experts have identified your copyrightable material, we will assist in secure a Certificate of Registration from the U.S. Copyright Office. Registration is important because this serves as prima facie evidence that the work belong to you. This becomes especially important if it becomes necessary for the copyright owner to obtain a preliminary injunction against a copyright infringer, such as the immediate cessation of the distribution of the infringer's work.

The benefits received from registering a copyrighted work may be even more important than those resulting from a copyright infringement lawsuit. This is because the great majority of copyright infringement matters are settled by the parties and not resolved by a lawsuit. The primary reason why copyright infringement actions are settled is the significant cost in time and money that is involved in such lawsuits. By registering a copyrighted work in a timely manner the copyright owner has the ability to bring the lawsuit at the specific moment it is required.

Registration also permits the copyright owner to send a "cease and desist letter" to the infringer that incorporates demands that are backed-up by the knowledge that a lawsuit could be immediately filed and that the (i) validity of originality and ownership will be presumed, (ii) statutory damages may be awarded, and (iii) legal costs and attorneys' fees may be recovered. When a copyright infringer receives such a cease and desist letter they will frequently accede to the copyright owner's demands without the copyright owner filing a lawsuit.

For this reason, The Commpliance Group has established a post-registration Tracking & Monitoring System designed to ensure that copyrights are effectively policed to prevent unauthorized use and infringement. Our compliance experts and our online tracking system monitors national and international sources, such as Federal and State governmental databases, business filings, and the Internet to find potentially infringing products. We provide all our clients with regular reports on potentially infringing product uses and any issues that involve the illegal use of your copyrighted material.