Registering a copyright is recommended for several reasons:

• Registration establishes a public record of your copyright claim.
• Registration is necessary before you can initiate a lawsuit in U.S. courts for infringement.
• If registration occurs within five years of publication, the registration will establish prima facie evidence in a court of law of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the Certificate of Registration.
• If registration is made within 3 months after publication of a work or prior to an infringement of the work, attorneys' fees, unlimited actual damages or statutory damages and the infringer's profits, will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner, which generally are much less than statutory damages.