contracts – protecting rights, minimizing risk, and negotiating fair terms in the U.S. and globally.
Your creative work is your legacy. Protect it before someone else profits from it.
As a copyright lawyer in Miami and New York, ChaseLawyers® helps musicians, authors, filmmakers, visual artists, producers, and media companies register their work with the U.S. Copyright Office and take action when it is copied without permission. We explain the process in plain English, handle the details, and help you build a record of ownership you can rely on when it counts.
Copyright protection begins the moment you fix an original work in a tangible form – a recording, a manuscript, a photo, a file. But for U.S. works, you generally cannot file an infringement lawsuit until the Copyright Office has registered (or refused) your claim. Timing matters, too: registering before infringement begins, or within three months of publication, can preserve your right to statutory damages and attorney’s fees. Our attorneys help you plan registration early, so your options stay open.
contracts — protecting artists, producers, and their rights across the U.S. and globally.
What Do We Offer You?
Copyright Registration, Enforcement & Licensing Services
Copyright Registration – Secure Your Rights Early
Registration turns automatic protection into rights you can enforce. Our copyright registration attorneys help you:
- Choose the right application for songs, sound recordings, books, scripts, artwork, photos, software, and online content.
- Prepare accurate filings, deposit copies, and co-author or work-for-hire details.
- Use group registration options, where available, to protect more work efficiently.
- Document a clean chain of title for sales, licensing, financing, and distribution.
Copyright Infringement – Stop Unauthorized Use
When your work shows up where it should not, a measured, well-documented response matters. We can help you:
- Gather evidence of copying online and offline, including screenshots, dates, and sources.
- Send cease-and-desist letters and DMCA takedown notices to platforms and hosts.
- Negotiate settlements, retroactive licenses, or removal of infringing content.
- Pursue claims in federal court or before the Copyright Claims Board when appropriate.
Copyright Licensing & Transfers – Turn Your Work Into Income
Your copyrights are business assets. We help you control how they are used and who pays for them:
- Draft and negotiate licensing, publishing, and distribution agreements.
- Prepare assignments and work-made-for-hire agreements that clearly transfer rights.
- Record transfers with the U.S. Copyright Office to strengthen your position.
- Respond to claims against you, including counter-notices and fair use questions.
How It Works
- Tell us about your work, your collaborators, and any unauthorized use.
- Share drafts, contracts, links, or letters you have received.
- Hear back from our team within 24 hours.
- Confirm who owns the work – you, your co-authors, a client, or an employer.
- Check existing contracts for assignments, licenses, and work-for-hire terms.
- Identify registration timing issues and enforcement options.
- Prepare and file your applications with the U.S. Copyright Office.
- Respond to Copyright Office correspondence on your behalf.
- Organize certificates, agreements, and records in one place.
- Send takedown notices and cease-and-desist letters.
- Negotiate licenses or settlements with infringers.
- Build a litigation strategy when a negotiated outcome is not possible.
- Register new releases, editions, and projects as they are completed.
- Review collaboration and distribution deals before you sign.
- Coordinate international protection with local counsel when needed.
Musicians, Songwriters & Producers
A song and its recording are separate copyrights. We help you register both, document ownership splits, and act when your music is used without a license – so your music stays yours.
Authors, Screenwriters & Publishers
From manuscripts to screenplays, we help you register literary works, respond to plagiarism, and license adaptations on your terms.
Visual Artists, Photographers & Designers
Images can be copied in seconds. We help you register artwork and photographs and pursue unauthorized use on websites, social media, and merchandise.
Film, Media & Digital Companies
We help production companies, publishers, and digital platforms clear rights, structure ownership, and maintain the chain of title that distributors and financiers expect.
Our Reviews
FAQ
Copyright Registration & Infringement FAQs
Clear answers to the questions creators ask about protecting and enforcing their work. Every situation is different, so book a free consultation for advice on yours.
For U.S. works, generally yes. You own the copyright as soon as your original work is fixed in a tangible form, but you usually need a registration – or a refusal from the Copyright Office – before filing an infringement lawsuit in federal court. Registering early also preserves remedies that late registration can rule out, such as statutory damages and attorney’s fees.
Statutory damages are amounts set by the Copyright Act that a court may award instead of requiring proof of actual losses – generally $750 to $30,000 per work, and up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement. They, along with attorney’s fees, are usually available only if the work was registered before the infringement began or within three months of first publication.
Copyright protects original works of authorship, including songs, sound recordings, books, screenplays, films, photographs, artwork, choreography, software, and website or social media content. It does not protect ideas, facts, titles, names, or short slogans on their own. Brand names and slogans may instead be protected as trademarks, which follow a separate set of rules.
Timelines vary with the type of application, whether the Copyright Office needs corrections, and its current workload, so check the Office’s published estimates. Your registration’s effective date is the day the Office receives a complete application, deposit, and fee – not the day the certificate arrives. If litigation is imminent, a paid expedited “special handling” option may be available.
Start by preserving evidence: screenshots, links, dates, and proof that you created the work first. Avoid public accusations until you know your options. A copyright infringement lawyer can check your registration status, send a DMCA takedown notice or cease-and-desist letter, and negotiate a license or settlement. If those steps do not resolve it, litigation may be an option.
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, you can ask an online platform or web host to remove content that infringes your copyright by sending a notice containing specific required information. Platforms often act quickly to keep their legal safe harbor. The person who posted it may file a counter-notice, and the content can be restored unless you file a lawsuit within a short window.
Chain of title is the documented history showing how a copyright moved from its creator to its current owner through assignments, work-for-hire agreements, licenses, and recorded transfers. Distributors, labels, publishers, buyers, and insurers often review it before they invest. Gaps, such as a missing co-writer agreement, can delay or derail a deal, so we help you find and fix them early.
For works created on or after January 1, 1978, copyright generally lasts for the author’s life plus 70 years. For joint works, the term runs until 70 years after the last surviving author’s death. Works made for hire and anonymous or pseudonymous works are protected for 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever ends first.
There is no single worldwide copyright. Under treaties such as the Berne Convention, most countries protect works by foreign authors under their own national laws, generally without requiring registration. That means your rights and remedies abroad depend on local law, and enforcement usually requires counsel in that country. We can help coordinate that process for you.
The Copyright Office charges a filing fee that depends on the type of application, and legal fees depend on how many works are involved and whether enforcement is needed. ChaseLawyers® offers flat-fee packages for common services and hourly or retainer options for ongoing matters. Your first consultation is free, so you get a clear quote before moving forward.
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