Hi All,

I'm in Australia and I'm looking into the best ways to protect my work both here and internationally. I have written a few pieces now but have not distributed or posted anything online yet...quite frankly after reading some of the threads on here about stolen work I'm hesitant to do so!! (funnily enough some of the stolen work has been by Australian Uni Students!)

I found out, under Australian copyright law, that my work is protected the moment it is written and there is no requirement to register it. There are websites that claim to provide registration and copyright protection but Australian Copyright council confirmed that is misleading information....work does not need to be registered to be protected.

Is that the case in other countries, namely the US and the UK?

Also, because Australia is a party to a number of international treaties that protect copyright material including the Berne Convention and UCC (which a number of other countries are also parties to) that my work is also copyright protected in those countries under international copyright.

However I'm wondering what experience anyone has had with this as well?
Do I still need to register my work in the US or UK?

Separate to the above, The Australian Writers Guild (AWG) offer an associate membership that I can join (without any writing credit or produced work) that offer numerous benefits including registering works. When I decide to go down this path does anyone know if registrations with the AWG is also recognised internationally? Or do I still need to register my works internationally?

Thanks in advance for any information you can help me with.

That's a tough question. I do know US copyright protection also applies the moment it is written. The benefit to registering is that you get a public record, you can bring infringement actions, and it shifts the burden of proof. So even though you're not required to register, it's highly recommended you do so.

I have no idea if Australian copyright registration affords the same advantages.

But I found this site.

Which recommends that even in Berne Convention Countries you should register in the US. It's not very long so you can easily read the whole thing. But main part as to why it's recommended:

"Registration of any copyrighted work in the U.S. prior to infringement occurring allows the copyright holder to seek statutory damages and attorney’s fees.

Bottom line: If you want to make sure you have the ability to file a lawsuit in the U.S. with the biggest hammer possible, you must register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office."

Thanks for the response mate.

Quoted from MarkItZero The benefit to registering is that you get a public record, you can bring infringement actions, and it shifts the burden of proof. So even though you're not required to register, it's highly recommended you do so.

Yep totally agree and plan to join the Australian Writers Guild to do so.

Quoted from MarkItZero But I found this site.

Brilliant, that answers my question.
Much appreciated.

I assume there will be a similar approach in the UK as well.