Registration puts your copyright on the public record and it only costs about $35-45 to register a copyright in the United States. Although copyright protection extends to your work as soon as it is fixed in a tangible medium (created), registering your copyright provides additional benefits.

First, you will have to register if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement to protect your work. Second, registered works may be eligible for statutory damages and attorney’s fees in successful litigation. Finally, if registration occurs within five years of publication, it is considered prima facie evidence in a court of law that you are the true author of your work.

In other words, you are required to register if you ever want to protect your work in court, and, if you have already done so, you could be awarded with additional damages and avoid arguing over whether you are the actual author of the work.