Although an author need not register his or her work with the U.S. Copyright Office to obtain copyright protection, registration does come with several advantages. Like the Tasini case , Reed Elsevier v. Muchnick is a class action lawsuit. The District Court's Opinion

The plaintiffs in Reed Elsevier consist of individual authors and trade groups representing authors who produced written works for certain publishers on a freelance basis. After the Tasini decision had affirmed the plaintiffs' right to control electronic reproduction of their works, the district court referred the parties to mediation. In 2005, after more than three years of negotiations, the parties reached an agreement that sorted plaintiffs' claims into three groups for compensation purposes. The defendants responded that Category C claimants were adequately represented and treated fairly because they would otherwise have been unable to bring actions for infringement at all under 17 U.S.C. §411(a) because their copyrights were unregistered. After prolonged proceedings, the district court granted final class certification and final settlement approval in September 2005. The Second Circuit's Opinion

Before hearing oral argument, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals "became concerned that the District Court and the parties had passed over a nettlesome jurisdictional question" and sua sponte ordered the parties to address "whether the District Court had subject-matter jurisdiction over claims concerning the infringement of unregistered copyrights." A divided panel of the Second Circuit disagreed. Concepts, Inc. and distinguishing the Supreme Court's ruling in Eberhart v. United States , the appellate court held that the requirement of copyright registration prior to an infringement suit is jurisdictional and that the phrase "copyright claim" referred to each claim within a purported class. Thus, because many of the plaintiffs' copyrights were unregistered, the Second Circuit held that the district court lacked the authority to certify the class and, as a result, lacked jurisdiction to approve the settlement. §411(a) restrict the subject-matter jurisdiction of the federal courts over copyright infringement actions?" 17 U.S.C. Next, she argued that the integrity of the judicial process precludes the parties from waiving §411(a) because both parties invoked the jurisdictional bar before the district court to defend the fairness of their settlement, which rewarded the owners of registered copyrights at the expense of unregistered copyright owners. The Supreme Court's Opinion

On March 2, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In an opinion authored by Justice Thomas, the Court ruled that while the Copyright Act's registration requirement is a precondition to filing a claim for infringement, §411(a) does not limit or deprive a federal court of subject-matter jurisdiction to adjudicate copyright infringement claims involving unregistered works. Finally, the Supreme Court expressed no opinion on the fairness, resonableness, or adequacy of the settlement. The Supreme Court also expressly declined to decide whether §411(a) is a mandatory precondition to suit that district courts may or should enforce sua sponte by dismissing copyright infringement claims that involve unregistered works. Concluding Observations

The Reed Elsevier case is now remanded to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to consider the settlement's merits and the objections to the settlement's approval. However, the appellate court may pay particular attention to the objections to the settlement's proposed damages formula, as suggested by Judge Walker's dissent to the Second Circuit's ruling in this case:
On the merits, the failure to create a sub-class consisting of those members holding primarily "C-class" claims, and separate representation for those members, is a serious problem in my view, because the named representatives hold more "A-class" and "B-class" claims than most class members, and thus have an incentive to favor holders of A- and B-class claims over holders of primarily C-class claims.
Although an author need not register his or her work with the U.S. Copyright Office to obtain copyright protection, registration is a statutory prerequisite to bringing suit for infringement of the copyright, as mandated by 17 U.S.C. §411(a). The question in Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick is whether this section of the Copyright Act restricts the subject-matter jurisdiction of the federal courts over copyright infringement claims involving unregistered works.
The plaintiffs in Reed Elsevier, consisting of individual authors and trade groups representing authors, brought a class action lawsuit against several publishers when those publishers licensed the authors' articles for print publication but failed to secure an additional license to reproduce them electronically. The Supreme Court had earlier affirmed the plaintiffs' right to control electronic reproduction of their copyrighted works in its 2001 opinion New York Times, Co. v. Tasini. After this opinion, the district court in Reed Elsevier referred the parties to mediation. After more than three years of negotiations, the parties reached an $18 million agreement that sorted the plaintiffs into three categories based, in part, on whether or not their copyrights had been registered. The settlement assigned a different damages formula to each category, with owners of registered copyrights receiving more than owners whose copyrights were unregistered.
Several freelance authors who fell within "Category C" (composed of unregistered copyrights) objected to the settlement agreement, arguing that the settlement was unfair and inadequate because they were paid too little. Proponents of the settlement responded that "Category C" claimants were treated fairly because, as owners of unregistered copyrights, they would normally be barred from bringing infringement suits at all under 17 U.S.C. §411(a). The district court granted final class certification and approved the settlement in September of 2005. The objectors appealed the district court's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Before oral argument, the Second Circuit asked the parties to address whether the district court had subject-matter jurisdiction over claims concerning the infringement of unregistered copyrights, or whether §411(a) restricted the court's jurisdiction.
Both the authors and publishers argued that §411(a) is not jurisdictional in nature. However, a divided panel of the Second Circuit disagreed, holding that the requirement of copyright registration prior to an infringement suit is jurisdictional and therefore, because many of the plaintiff's copyrights were unregistered, the district court lacked the power to certify the class and approve the settlement. The publishers appealed the appellate court's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a unanimous decision issued on March 2, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Second Circuit panel. The Court characterized the Copyright Act's registration requirement as a claim-processing rule rather than a jurisdictional condition. Therefore, a copyright holder's failure to satisfy the statutory registration requirement does not deprive a federal court of jurisdiction to adjudicate his copyright infringement claim. While the Supreme Court held that the Reed Elsevier district court possesses the authority to approve the settlement between the authors and the publishers, the Court offered no opinion on the fairness, resonableness, or adequacy of the settlement. On remand, the court of appeals must now consider the settlement's merits and decide whether to uphold the district court's approval of the settlement. The Supreme Court also expressly declined to decide whether §411(a) is a mandatory precondition to suit that district courts may or should enforce sua sponte by dismissing copyright infringement claims that involve unregistered works.