quote:
Originally posted by Carolyn Howard-Johnson:
if I registered everything I wrote, I would have spend literally thousands in copyright fees.

### You can register up to TEN things at once as a "collection of your works" for $30 so it's really pretty cheap unless you do billions of things. And of course it's deductible.

Plus, even if I thought I had a 99% chance of winning I would have to find a lawyer who would take it on contingency and he'd have to decide whether or not he would make enough money to take it on IF he won, or I'd have to dig up the funds to pay a lawyer by the case or by the hour. You know what???? That just isn't going to happen. ;
#### That's my point. If you register your copyright, the infringement is a Federal Crime. The investigation and the lawyers are paid by the U.S. Government. And you are not limited to actual damages as you are in Unregistered copyright cases. If the copyright is registered you can get royalties on whatever they made from your work as well as punitive damages.
I don't know the particulars of the Lion King case, but even Disney almost alays BUYS Registered material and STEALS Unregistered material. They know they have enough lawyers to outlast anyone who has NOT registered, but even Disney doesn't have as many lawywers as the U.S. Govt.

Just some adivce from someone who has learned the hard way.
smile
P.S. I certainly agree with you that most new writers worry far too much about plagarism and far too little about writing well enough for someone to want to steal their work.

[ November 07, 2004, 12:30 AM: Message edited by: smilinize ]