Copyrights protect against copying and not against independent creation. In order for a copyright to be infringed, the copier must have had access to the prior copyrighted work. Most forms of software are copyrightable, both in source code and in object code. To obtain a copyright, it is only necessary to create an original work. Although registration is not a condition of copyright protection, the copyright can be registered.
Registration is required to bring an infringement action.
Registration prior to the infringement is a prerequisite to an award of statutory money damages or attorney's fees. Copies of the copyrighted material must be deposited with the Library of Congress when applying for a registration. In the case of multiple individual authors, the term is measured from the last surviving author's death. For a work made for hire or an anonymous or pseudonymous work, the term is the shorter of 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation. Note that if an outside designer, consultant or author is used for designing products, creating advertisements, writing catalogs, product brochures and instruction manuals, creating custom software, etc., the work belongs to the creator or author, unless there is a written contract specifically assigning all copyrights to the company.