Attached Link: http://www.wsgr.com/WSGR/Display.aspx?SectionName=publications/PDFSearch/wsgralert_copyright_registration.htm

> Quote - Correct. You can sue for infringement even if you don't have it registered/copyrighted/whatever. It's just that your burden of proof is higher than it would be had you done it previous to the infraction. > > Laurie

From the link above:

"Section 411(a) [of the The Copyright Act] provides, with a few exceptions, that "no civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until preregistration or registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title."

In Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick, No. 08-103, 559 U.S. ___ (2010) the Supreme Court ruled on the issue...

"It should be noted that while the Court confirmed that Section 411(a)'s registration requirement is a precondition to filing a claim, the Court expressly declined to clarify what kind of precondition to the suit it is—namely, whether it is a mandatory precondition. Hence, it remains to be determined whether district courts may or should enforce the registration requirement sua sponte by dismissing copyright infringement claims involving unregistered works. It also remains to be seen how the Second Circuit will address the matter upon remand in the class action context."

---

TL;DR ---> You need to register as a precondition to filing a claim, but that could change with future rulings.

Oh, and this requirement does not hold, I believe, for international works when the infringement occurs in the US.  It seems that I would find it easier to sue an American infringer than an someone whose work was created in the US would.

---

PoserPro 2014, PS CS5.5 Ext, Nikon D300. Win 8, i7-4770 @ 3.4 GHz, AMD Radeon 8570, 12 GB RAM.