Sports & Entertainment Beat

This post was originally published on GSB's website as a GSB Client Update on July 9, 2018.

Although Section 411(a) of the U.S. Copyright Act states clearly that “Although Section 411(a) of civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until . . . registration [or refusal of registration] of the copyright claim has been made,” not every judicial circuit in the United States has agreed how to interpret this requirement. The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent grant of a petition for writ of certiorari in the case, Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com LLC, may resolve the current federal circuit split, deciding for the country whether a copyright must be fully registered or just applied-for before a copyright infringement lawsuit can be filed.