Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/18pdf/17-571_e29f.pdf
Page Number: 6

Cite as:  586 U. S. ____ (2019) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

I 
Under the Copyright Act of 1976, as amended, copyright
protection  attaches  to  “original  works  of  authorship”—
prominent  among  them,  literary,  musical,  and  dramatic
works—“fixed  in  any  tangible  medium  of  expression.”    17 
U. S. C. §102(a).  An author gains “exclusive rights” in her
work  immediately  upon  the  work’s  creation,  including 
rights of reproduction, distribution, and display.  See §106; 
Eldred  v.  Ashcroft,  537  U. S.  186,  195  (2003)  (“[F]ederal
copyright protection . . . run[s] from the work’s creation.”).
The Copyright Act entitles a copyright owner to institute a
civil  action  for  infringement  of  those  exclusive  rights.
§501(b).

Before  pursuing  an  infringement  claim  in  court,  how-
ever,  a  copyright  claimant  generally  must  comply  with
§411(a)’s  requirement  that  “registration  of  the  copyright 
claim  has  been  made.”   §411(a).  Therefore,  although  an
owner’s  rights  exist  apart  from  registration,  see  §408(a),
registration  is  akin  to  an  administrative  exhaustion  re-
quirement  that  the  owner  must  satisfy  before  suing  to 
enforce ownership rights, see Tr. of Oral Arg. 35. 

In  limited  circumstances,  copyright  owners  may  file  an
infringement  suit  before  undertaking  registration.    If  a 
copyright owner is preparing to distribute a work of a type
vulnerable  to  predistribution  infringement—notably,  a 
movie  or  musical  composition—the  owner  may  apply  for 
preregistration.  §408(f)(2);  37  CFR  §202.16(b)(1)  (2018).
The Copyright Office will “conduct a limited review” of the 
application  and  notify  the  claimant  “[u]pon  completion  of 
the  preregistration.”    §202.16(c)(7),  (c)(10).  Once  “prereg-
istration . . . has been made,” the copyright claimant may 
institute  a  suit  for  infringement.  17  U. S. C.  §411(a). 
Preregistration,  however,  serves  only  as  “a  preliminary 
step  prior  to  a  full  registration.”    Preregistration  of  Cer-
tain  Unpublished  Copyright  Claims,  70  Fed.  Reg.  42286
(2005).  An  infringement  suit  brought  in  reliance  on  pre-