Copyright itself does not depend on formal procedures. A creative work is considered to be protected by copyright as soon as it is created. According to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, literary and artistic works are protected without the need for registration in the member countries of the Convention (180 countries as of December 2021). This provision also applies to all members of the World Trade Organization.
Therefore, there is no international registration procedure for copyright protection as there is for patents, trademarks, and industrial designs. However, many countries have national copyright management agencies, and the laws of some countries allow for registering works for purposes such as identifying and distinguishing the titles of works. In certain countries, registering a work can confer practical advantages when it is used as initial evidence in copyright-related disputes, and the exercise of some rights may depend on registration. For example, in the United States, registration is required for pursuing legal damages.
Registration may also be required for citizens of a country because their rights in their home country are not affected by international conventions. Therefore, for U.S. citizens, a lawsuit for copyright infringement could be dismissed without valid registration.
So, while there is no international registration procedure for copyright protection abroad, and your work is automatically protected without registration in all member countries of the Berne Convention, you may still want to register your work with national copyright management agencies if registration procedures exist. A list of national copyright management agencies can be found on the WIPO website at www.wipo.int/ news/en/links/addresses/cr.
