## Facts

- Cosmetic Ideas, Inc., a California jewelry maker, created a costume jewelry necklace design known as the “Lady Caroline Lorgnette” in 1997 and began manufacturing and selling it in 1999.
- Cosmetic alleged that between 2005 and 2008, the HSN entities began manufacturing and distributing a virtually identical necklace.
- On March 6, 2008, Cosmetic submitted a copyright registration application to the U.S. Copyright Office; the Office confirmed receipt on March 12, 2008.
- On March 27, 2008, before the Copyright Office acted on the application, Cosmetic filed a federal copyright infringement suit against HSN in the Central District of California.
- The Copyright Office issued a registration certificate only after the complaint was filed.
- The district court dismissed, reasoning that 17 U.S.C. § 411(a) required an issued registration before suit and that the absence of an issued certificate at filing deprived the court of subject-matter jurisdiction.

## Issues

1. For purposes of 17 U.S.C. § 411(a), is “registration ... made” when the Copyright Office receives a complete application, deposit, and fee, or only when the Office acts by granting or refusing registration?
2. Did the district court err by dismissing the complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction based on the absence of an issued registration certificate when the suit was filed?

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded.
- The court adopted the “application approach,” holding that § 411(a) is satisfied when a claimant delivers a completed application, deposit, and fee to the Copyright Office.
- Because Cosmetic’s completed materials were received before it filed suit, the § 411(a) precondition was met, and dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction was improper.

## Legal Principles

- Under 17 U.S.C. § 411(a), a copyright infringement action may be instituted once the copyright claimant’s completed application, deposit, and fee have been received by the Copyright Office.
- The statutory phrase “registration ... has been made” does not require that a registration certificate have issued before suit.
- The purpose of § 411(a)’s precondition is served once the Copyright Office has the claim before it and an opportunity to act, without forcing the timing of suit to depend on administrative processing delays.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit held that § 411(a)’s registration precondition is met upon the Copyright Office’s receipt of a complete application, deposit, and fee, permitting a claimant to file an infringement action before the Office issues a registration certificate, and it reversed the jurisdictional dismissal.


Cosmetic Ideas, Inc. v. IAC/InterActiveCorp, 606 F.3d 612 (9th Cir. 2010)