1. How to Define Copyright?

Copyright in the United States is a form of legal protection that grants creators exclusive rights to control how their original works are used and distributed. U.S. copyright law governs this protection and broadly defines it as covering any “original work of authorship” fixed in a tangible medium of expression.

This means that once an original work is fixed in a tangible form—such as a book, painting, photograph, or digital media—it is automatically protected by copyright. The copyright owner has exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, create derivative works, and publicly perform or display the work.

On platforms like Amazon, copyright infringement is very common. First, copyright protection is not limited by product category; second, copyright follows the principle of automatic protection (it arises upon creation). Therefore, actions such as image theft or copying product listings are highly likely to result in infringement claims.

To file a lawsuit for infringement, copyright registration is a prerequisite. If another seller uses your original content (e.g., product images), you must register your copyright before initiating legal action. If you win, you may recover actual damages and profits per infringing work, as well as statutory damages. Since actual damages are often difficult and costly to prove, plaintiffs typically seek statutory damages, which are determined by the court and are often substantial.

2. What Is the Purpose of U.S. Copyright?

Similar to American invention patents, appearance patents and American trademarks, American copyright can meet the common applications of American rights protection scenes, such as official website exhibition, court proceedings, customs filing, Amazon, ebay, speed sell platform exhibition and rights protection certificate, etc., and infringement of American copyright will also face legal responsibilities such as product rejection, product removal and tort compensation.

According to the copyright law, the copyright owner has the exclusive right to copy, adapt, distribute, publicly perform and publicly display the work. For sound recording, the copyright owner has the right to publicly perform the work through digital audio transmission. These exclusive rights can be freely transferred, authorized, sold, donated to charity or bequeathed to your heirs. It is illegal for anyone to infringe any exclusive rights of copyright owners. If the copyright owner wins the infringement claim, the available remedies include preliminary and permanent injunctions (court orders to stop the current or prevent future infringement), seizure and destruction of infringing articles and monetary remedies.

To file a lawsuit for infringement, copyright registration is a prerequisite. If another seller uses your original content (e.g., product images), you must register your copyright before initiating legal action. If you win, you may recover actual damages and profits per infringing work, as well as statutory damages. Since actual damages are often difficult and costly to prove, plaintiffs typically seek statutory damages, which are determined by the court and are often substantial.

3. How Long Does Copyright Protection Last?

* For individual works: Life of the author + 70 years

* For anonymous, pseudonymous, or works made for hire:

 95 years from publication OR 120 years from creation (whichever is shorter)

4. How Can I Protect My Original Work?

Register your copyright. Although works are protected from the date of creation, unlike patents and trademarks, they must be registered before they can be protected. However, registration is prima facie evidence of copyright.

If you find online infringement, you can complain to the Internet service provider and send a notice of deletion.

Bring a lawsuit to court. If the infringer issues a counter-notice after receiving the deletion notice, the obligee must bring a lawsuit to the court, otherwise the platform can restore the deleted content or product.

5. What Works Are NOT Protected by Copyright?

1) Works that are not expressed in a fixed tangible form (such as dance works that are not recorded with symbols and words, or speeches or performances that are not recorded or improvised).

2) Unlisted titles, names, phrases and slogans, familiar symbols or icons, unchanged printing decorations, fonts or colors, components or contents.

3) Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries or tools that can be distinguished from descriptions, explanations or statements.

4) The information contained in the works is only public content, and does not contain original works (for example, standard calendars, height and weight scales, sound measuring devices, pads and some catalogues or tables obtained from other public documents and other public data).

Copyright interests may be divided and distributed to others who grant you permission to work. Therefore, you can easily see the importance of copyright from the above contents. Selling products on Amazon in the United States, applying for and registering copyright in advance may be an important step in a protracted war for your brand.

6. What Is the Difference Between Copyright, Patent, and Trademark?

Copyright, patent and trademark are all forms of intellectual property protection, which provide different types of legal rights and protection in the United States.

Copyright protects original works, and protects original works fixed in the form of tangible expression media, such as books, music, movies, software and works of art. Copyright protects the expression of ideas, but not the ideas themselves, and gives the creators the exclusive right to copy, distribute and display works.

Patents protect novel, practical and non-obvious inventions or discoveries. Patents give inventors the exclusive right to produce, use and sell inventions for a limited time (usually 20 years from the date of application). Patents can protect products, processes, machines and material components.

Major trademarks are symbols, words or phrases used to identify and distinguish products or services from other products or services. Trademarks give enterprises the exclusive right to use their marks on their goods or services, and prevent competitors from using similar marks that are easy to cause confusion.

Generally speaking, copyright protects creative works, patents protect inventions and trademarks protect brands. In the United States, each form of intellectual property rights provides different legal rights and protection. It is very important to know which form of protection is suitable for your creative or business goals.

7. How Effective Is U.S. Copyright for Enforcement?

On platforms like Amazon, copyright complaints are highly effective and often successful in removing infringing content.

8. When to File Single vs. Group Registration?

A single application is used to register a single work, while the group registration of one application means that multiple works are registered as a group under a single application.

When to use a single archive:

When you only have one work to register, such as a book, a photo or a musical work. When you want to register the copyright of a single work and there are no other related works to be included in the registration. When you don't need to register multiple works as a whole and are not interested in the benefits of collective registration.

When to use group registration for an application:

When you have a series of related works or multiple versions of the same work and want to register with a single application, such as a series of photos or multiple versions of the same software. When you want to save time and money in the registration fee, the collective registration can cover up to 10 related works, and the cost is lower than that of multiple single registrations. When the work is not published or published in the same calendar year and has the same copyright claimant and ownership.

It should be noted that the requirements for collective registration of an application are different from those for a single application. There are specific guidelines for which works can be included in the group registration, and each group registration package must contain a separate application, electronic deposit and application fee. Our experienced team can help you determine the registration method suitable for your specific situation.

9. When Is My Work Protected?

According to American copyright law, works are protected by copyright from the moment they are fixed on tangible expression media. This means that once an original work, such as a book, painting or song, is created, it will be automatically protected by copyright law without registration or other formalities.

To obtain copyright protection, a work must be original, that is, created independently, not copied from other sources, and must be creative. This means that even works like compilations or databases that don't need to be original in every single part may still be protected by copyright if they are creative enough in content selection, arrangement or organization.

The creator does not need to add a copyright notice to the protected work; However, adding a statement can bring some benefits, such as informing others and preventing infringement.

However, registered works do enjoy some additional legal protection. Copyright registration can publicly record the creator's ownership of the work and the date of creation, and help solve any copyright disputes. In addition, if the copyright is registered within a certain period of time after publication or creation, the legal compensation or lawyer's fee can be recovered in the infringement lawsuit.

10. Do I have to register with the US Copyright Office to be protected?

Copyright is a form of intellectual property law that protects original works, including literary works, plays, music and artistic works, such as poems, novels, movies, songs, computer software and architectural works. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems or methods of operation, although it may protect the expression of these things.

Copyright law gives the creators of original works exclusive rights to control the use, reproduction, distribution and display of their works. These rights allow creators to profit from their works and prevent others from using their works without permission. In the United States, copyright protection usually lasts until the author's lifetime. For most works created after January 1, 1978, the copyright protection period is 70 years. Generally speaking, copyright does not protect simple ideas or concepts, but protects the original expression of these ideas. Nor does it protect facts, procedures, systems or methods of operation.

11. What Is “Poor People’s Copyright”?

The term "poor people's copyright" refers to a so-called copyright protection method, that is, the author sends a copy of the work to himself by mail without opening the envelope as evidence of the date of creation of the work. The idea is that if there is a dispute in the future, the postmarked envelope can be used as evidence of the creation date of the work, which is said to provide an informal form of copyright protection.

Although the poor people's copyright practice may have some value in determining the date of creation, it is not an officially recognized or legal and effective copyright registration or protection method. In fact, the U.S. Copyright Office specifically recommends the registration of copyright in order to obtain all the protection and benefits provided by copyright law.

It is worth noting that simply mailing a work to yourself cannot establish ownership, nor can it provide legal protection or control the right to use intellectual property rights. Only the actual creator or owner of a work can apply for copyright protection and exercise their rights to prevent infringement. Therefore, it is best to formally register copyright with the US Copyright Office in order to fully enjoy its benefits and protection.

12. Is My Copyright Valid in Other Countries?

Copyright protection is generally regional, that is, copyright registered in the United States is only valid in the United States. The United States has copyright relations with most countries in the world. According to these agreements, we respect the copyright of each other's citizens. However, the United States does not have such a copyright relationship with every country.

The most important international copyright protection treaty is Berne Convention, which stipulates the minimum standards of copyright protection among the contracting States. The United States and more than 170 other countries are parties to the Berne Convention, which means that the copyright of works registered in the United States is also protected in other countries that have signed the treaty.

In addition to the Berne Convention, the United States has signed a number of bilateral agreements with some countries to provide additional protection for copyright works. These agreements are often called Free Trade Agreements (FTA), which contain provisions related to intellectual property rights, including copyright protection. The United States has signed free trade agreements with many countries, including Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea and many countries in the Middle East and Asia.

Although international copyright protection may be complicated, generally speaking, as long as a work meets the qualification criteria and is registered according to the laws and regulations of the country seeking protection, it is possible to obtain copyright protection abroad.

13. Can I Register Multiple Works in One Application?

You can register several related works of a specific category in one application through the "collective registration" procedure with only one application fee (for unpublished works, at most 10 works can be registered in one application at the same time). At present, the following types of works can be registered in the United States Copyright Office through the collective registration procedure: unpublished works, serial publications, newspapers, newsletters, works in periodicals, published photos, unpublished photos, updates and revisions to databases, and materials prepared for safety testing. In addition, your work must meet certain conditions to be eligible for "collective registration". For example, for unpublished works, the following conditions must be met: 1) All works must be unpublished; 2) All works must be created by the same author or the same co-author; 3) All authors are listed as copyright owners; 4) The contribution of each author or co-author to the work must be stated, and all the claims must be the same (for example, "unpublished jewelry design", "unpublished illustrations" or "unpublished musical works (with or without lyrics)"); 5) You must provide a title for each work; 6) The category of each work must be the same; 7) The application must be submitted online, and a digital copy of the work must be uploaded.

14. How Long Does It Take to Get a Certificate?

Generally speaking, the copyright registration Certificate will be awarded by the US Copyright Office about 7 months after the application is submitted. The processing time of copyright applications submitted electronically on the Internet is short, with an average of 6 months. However, the processing time of applications submitted through paper document entities is longer, with an average of 13 months. If the application for copyright registration contains errors, it will take longer to process the receipt from the US Copyright Office. On average, it usually takes 9 months to process the online electronic application with the receipt of the copyright office. However, it takes an average of 20 months to process applications submitted by entities that need to process the receipt of copyright office.

15. What Should I Do If I Receive a Copyright Infringement Notice?

Judge whether there is infringement. In case of infringement, it is necessary to quickly suspend the sales of related products and remove the infringing content. You can contact the complainant according to the contact information provided by the platform, get the complainant's understanding and withdraw the complaint, and reply to Amazon email to explain the situation. If the store's sales right is suspended, it can appeal for restoration according to the platform rules; You can also contact the obligee to handle and withdraw the complaint.

If the complaint is confirmed to be malicious, a counter notice can be sent according to the regulations of DMCA. According to the regulations, the platform will resume your content or product within 10 to 14 working days after receiving the counter-notice, unless the complainant informs the platform that it has filed a lawsuit.

1. Determine the Type of Copyright Registration

You must determine the type of work you want to protect before registering a copyright. The United States Copyright Office provides several categories of registration, including literary works, music, artistic works, and software.

2. Submit the Application

After determining the type of copyright, you need to submit an application. The application form must clearly describe the work to be protected, including details such as the title, author’s name, and date of publication. You may also need to provide copyright certificates and relevant documentation.

3. Application Examination

The United States Copyright Office will review the submitted application to ensure it meets the registration requirements. If approved, the copyright will be registered and a certificate of registration will be issued.

4. Maintain Your Copyright

After registration, you must take steps to protect and enforce your copyright. This includes taking legal action in case of infringement and updating registration information when necessary.

5. Originality Requirement

To qualify for U.S. copyright protection, the work must be original. This means it cannot be copied or imitated from other works.

6. Fixation Requirement

U.S. copyright law requires that a work be fixed in a tangible medium of expression to be protected. This means the work must exist in a physical or digital form, such as a book, music recording, artwork, or software etc.

7. Copyright Duration

The term of American copyright is the author's life and 50 years after his/her death. During this period, the copyright owner enjoys the exclusive right to the work.

8. Infringement

If someone reproduces, distributes, or publicly displays a copyrighted work without authorization, it constitutes infringement. The copyright owner has the right to take legal action to protect their interests.