Someone stole your photo, your article, your song. The internet's advice is "sue them" — the useful question is what a lawsuit actually pays. The answer is two numbers that depend on one thing most creators learn too late: when you registered. Here's the full damage picture, from the statute to the small-claims board.
Copyright law gives you two ways to be paid, and you pick one. The first is actual damages plus profits: what the infringement actually cost you — lost license fees, lost sales — plus whatever the infringer earned that's attributable to the copying. Precise, but you have to prove every dollar.
The second is statutory damages, and it exists because proving actuals is often hopeless. Under 17 U.S.C. §504(c), the court awards $750 to $30,000 per infringed work, as it considers just. Two adjustments move the range: willful infringement — the infringer knew, or recklessly disregarded your rights — lifts the ceiling to $150,000 per work, while innocent infringement can drop the floor to $200. The judge chooses the number; demand letters choose it too, optimistically.
Here's the trap. For US works, statutory damages and attorney's fees are only available if the work was registered before the infringement began, or within three months of first publication. Two Supreme Court-strength rules sit behind it: you can't sue an infringement in federal court until the Copyright Office acts on your registration application (the 2019 Fourth Estate decision), and §412 strips statutory damages and fees from late registrations.
What that means in practice, with real numbers:
| Scenario | 3 registered photos, willful, $30k/work claim |
|---|---|
| Registered before infringement | $90,000 statutory claim in federal court + attorney's fees recoverable |
| Registered within 3 months of publication | Same — the timely-registration window preserves everything |
| Registered after discovering infringement | No statutory damages, no fees: actual damages + profits only |
Registration costs under $100 and takes minutes online. An entire industry of copyright firms exists because most creators skip it and forfeit six figures of leverage.
Statutory damages attach per work, not per copy. One photograph ripped by fifty sites is still one work — though each infringer is separately liable. The subtle question is grouping: twelve photos published together as one set may register — and be counted — as a single work, while photos created and licensed individually each stand alone. A song and its album, an article and its compilation: the unit of "work" moves the math by multiples, and it's genuinely contested territory. Count conservatively, argue it with a lawyer.
Federal court is slow and expensive, so the CASE Act built a small-claims alternative inside the Copyright Office, operating since 2022. The Copyright Claims Board:
The catch is the last mile: the respondent can opt out, and a defendant facing $30,000 at the CCB often does exactly that — pushing you back into federal court with federal costs. The CCB is best understood as an offer your opponent can decline, but one that's cheap enough to make anyway.
| Federal court | CCB | |
|---|---|---|
| Statutory range | $750–$30,000/work ($150k willful) | ≤$15,000/work |
| Total cap | None | $30,000, 3 works |
| Upfront cost | ≈$400–500 filing + counsel | $40 (+$60 later) |
| Attorney's fees | Recoverable (timely registration) | No |
| Binding if won? | Yes | Unless respondent opts out first |
Run your own numbers both ways with the copyright damages estimator — the federal-vs-CCB gap is usually the decision that matters.
Then you're in the actual-damages column, and honesty is required about what that's worth. A freelance photographer whose image was lifted might document $1,850 in refused license fees plus $940 of the infringer's attributable ad profits: a $2,790 claim that no federal lawsuit can profitably pursue once legal costs appear. Takedown notices and licensing negotiations — start with the DMCA takedown cost calculator for that route — usually pay better than litigation at this scale. The lesson isn't despair; it's that the cheapest version of enforcement is bought in advance, at registration.
Copyright infringement pays $750 to $30,000 per work in statutory damages, up to $150,000 per work for willfulness, or $30,000 total at the CCB — if you registered before the infringement or within three months of publishing. Without timely registration, it pays your provable losses and the infringer's attributable profits, and you fund the fight yourself. Register everything you publish, document infringements when you find them, model both forums in the damages estimator, and if the number clears four or five figures, the settlement calculator will tell you what an early offer is worth against years of litigation.
Statutory damages with federal and CCB caps applied side by side.
Copyright Damages Estimator →A fixed range the court can award per infringed work without you proving losses: $750 to $30,000 under 17 U.S.C. 504(c). Willful infringement raises the ceiling to $150,000 per work; innocent infringement can lower the floor to $200. You choose statutory damages instead of actual damages, usually because proving what the infringement cost you is difficult.
For US works, statutory damages and attorney's fees are only available if the work was registered before the infringement started, or within three months of first publication. Register late and you are limited to actual damages plus provable profits, and you pay your own legal costs. A registration costing under $100 preserves the entire statutory regime.
For claims under $30,000, often yes: filing costs $40 plus $60 if the case proceeds, proceedings are remote and streamlined, and you don't need a lawyer. The trade-offs are the caps ($15,000 per work, $30,000 total, three works max), no attorney's fees, and the respondent's right to opt out — which pushes the case back to federal court and your costs back up.