In order to commence an infringement action in federal court, a plaintiff must first obtain a certificate of registration from the U.S. Copyright Office. Although copyright registration is sometimes viewed as a mere formality, inaccurate statements made in registration applications may come back to haunt the plaintiff. Even in the world of major publishers and record labels, registrations may be non-existent, incorrect or poorly documented when the time comes to commence an infringement action, but that usually doesn’t preclude a successful result. Registration certificates can be expedited, if needed, errors on old certificates can be corrected, and only truly egregious misrepresentations are enough to jeopardize the registration in most cases.

The exceptions prove the rule however, and on April 8 the Southern District of Florida issued a ruling dismissing an infringement claim solely on the basis of registration irregularities. Plaintiffs in the case, Roberts v. Gordy,1 could certainly have done a better job of cleaning up the messy registration history of their work before filing suit—or even during the two-year course of the litigation—but the decision stands as a sobering reminder that the “mere formality” of registration can be deadly for plaintiffs who don’t have their ducks in a row.

Factual Background

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