Making sure you get paid for your work
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You spent years writing that novel—only to watch someone else take it to Hollywood and turn it into an award-winning movie.
You labored over the design of that webpage—and now someone else has copied the page and is using it to sell their wares.
You poured your heart and soul into writing that song—and now someone else is trading it over an illegal file-sharing system and reaping the rewards.
Don’t let yourself be a victim! Our counsel, Matt Hersh, has spent years protecting the rights of songwriters, artists, designers, and other creators in federal courts all over the country, even as high as the Supreme Court. We can recover your losses and force poachers to turn over every penny they earned with your work. And if you’ve registered your work beforehand, you might be entitled to statutory damages as high as $150,000—and an award of legal fees as well.
And if you’ve been frivolously sued, we’re here for you too. Maybe you used that photo for your website because you honestly thought it was in the public domain. Or you made a fair use of a five-second movie clip in an upload to YouTube. Trolls might try to get rich quick at your expense over an innocent mistake. We won’t let them.
Too many creators don’t bother to register their works with the Copyright Office. But it’s easy and it’s cheap—and it can save you a bundle. Registering tells the world that your creations belong to you. And if someone steals your registered work, you’ll be entitled to valuable statutory damages and maybe even recovery of your legal fees. But if you don’t register before the poacher steals your work, your options for recovery get narrower fast. Mestaz Law can talk you through the hows and whys of copyright registration. Give us a free call today.
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