Overview
Inadvertent mistakes on copyright applications—whether mistakes of law or mistakes of fact—will not invalidate a copyright registration, according to the Supreme Court. Specifically, the Court considered the safe harbour provision of the Copyright Act to mean that a certificate of registration is valid: “regardless of whether the certificate contains any inaccurate information, unless—(A) the inaccurate information was included on the application for copyright registration with knowledge that it was inaccurate; and (B) the inaccuracy of the information, if known, would have caused the Register of Copyrights to refuse registration.” Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., 525 U.S. __ , at 2 (2022)(quoting 17 U.S.C. § 411(b)(1)).
Although this decision makes it easier for non-lawyers to obtain valid copyright registrations because good faith mistakes of fact or law will not invalidate the registration, the Court left open an avenue for further issues to arise. It explained that “courts need not automatically accept a copyright holder’s claim that it was unaware of the relevant legal requirements of copyright law.” Id. at 3. Thus, the court recognised that wilful blindness and circumstantial evidence can all support a finding of actual knowledge.
