Copyright Registration is a Prerequisite to an Infringement Claim

TVI, Inc. v. Infosoft Technologies, Inc., 4:06cv00697JCH (E.D. Mo. 2006) Judge Hamilton dismissed Infosoft's counterclaim for copyright infringement under 17 USC 411(a) because the copyright had not been registered at the time of the counterclaim.

17 U.S.C. 411(a) provides that no action for infringement can be brought until "registration of the copyright claim has been made". Infosoft argued that the fact that it applied for registration was sufficient to confer jurisdiction. The Court reitered the conventional rules of claim construction:

• When interpreting statutory law, a fedearl court's objective is to give effect to the intent of Congress
• Analysis of a statute must begin with the plain language, and if it is unambiguous, that language is conclusive absent legislative intent to the contrary
• If the intent of Congress can be clearly discerned from the statute's language, the judicial inquiry must end
• Absent an express definition provided in the statute, words are given their ordinary, common meanings.
• When looking at a single statute, individual sections should be construed together
• A statute ought to be construed in a way that no clause, sentence, ro work shall be superflouos, void, or insignificant

The Court noted two approaches, the "Registration Approach" which requires that the copyright be registered, and the "Application Approach" which merely requires that an proper application have been filed. The Court found the Registration Approach to comport more with the language of the section, as well as other sections, which both contemplated examination as a prerequiste to registration, which undermines the interpretation that registration is complete upon filing. The Court also found that the primary support for the Application Approach came from policy arguments, and found that that approach had "significant flaws" including requiring a "topsy-turvy reading" of the Act, and providing no explanation why, if application and registration mean the same thing, Congress used two different words.

The Court dismissed the copyright counterclaims.