> So if you find out someone is infringing and want to sue, you begin registration for copyright and file suit shortly after. It doesn't say it had to be registered when the infringement happened.
Technically that's correct -- but there are some possible adverse consequences if you don't register before the infringement begins (or alternatively within a three-month window after first publication). Specifically:
a) you forfeit the option of seeking "statutory damages," and instead you have to prove up your actual economic loss and any additional profits made by the infringer arising from the infringement; and
b) you don't get to seek attorneys' fees from the infringer if you win --- but if the infringer wins, the infringer can still seek attorneys' fees from you.
Technically that's correct -- but there are some possible adverse consequences if you don't register before the infringement begins (or alternatively within a three-month window after first publication). Specifically:
a) you forfeit the option of seeking "statutory damages," and instead you have to prove up your actual economic loss and any additional profits made by the infringer arising from the infringement; and
b) you don't get to seek attorneys' fees from the infringer if you win --- but if the infringer wins, the infringer can still seek attorneys' fees from you.
See http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/412