A certificate of registration from the United States Register of Copyrights constitutes prima facie evidence of the ownership of a valid copyright. See 17 U.S.C. § 410(c); former 17 U.S.C. § 209 (1909 Copyright Act).[1] FIP originally obtained a certificate of registration for the Course in 1975. The burden thus falls upon Defendants to rebut the prima facie validity of such certificate.
Defendants assert three defenses to rebut the presumption of validity: (1) lack of originality;[2] (2) fraud on the Copyright Office; and (3) chain of title. Other affirmative defenses are addressed in Section III below.
- 1. Originality
- ↑ The primary difference between current 17 U.S.C. § 410(c) and former 17 U.S.C. § 209 is that under the current statute, prima facie validity only applies to works registered within five years of initial publication, a time limit inapplicable under the former statute. See Sem-Torq, Inc. v. K Mart Corp., 936 F.2d 851, 854 (6th Cir. 1991). Here, the distinction is doubly irrelevant, since FIP obtained a registration certificate within a few months of initial publication of the Course.
- ↑ Originality could also be seen as a defense to the second prong of an infringement claim, i.e., "copying of constituent elements of the work that are original." Feist, 499 U.S. at 361. As a practical matter, it makes no difference whether the defense is considered under Feist's "valid copyright" prong or under its "copying of constituent elements" prong.
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