Re: getting back the copyright

I believe an IP lawyer based in USA should be able to ellaborate more on your issue, especially that you failed to specify the nature of the "work" itself & whether the agreement between both of you was in writing or not; still I might be able to direct your search by giving you a general idea, as the IP protection does fall under the same International Treaties binding most countries.

According to US Federal Copyright Law,a copyright owner has the right to transfer some or all of his rights to another, provided that this transfer is in WRITING; but if not, the transferred rights shall not be considered exclusive & the non-exclusive licensee shall have no right of enforcement; which means he shall have no right to sue you to enforce your Agreement! However, if it turns out to be in writing than he shall enjoy whatever rights you have chosen to assign to him as per the renumeration you agreed to as per the revenue generated from the exploitation of your work; however, there might be some legal mechanisms worthy to discuss with your lawyer as to how to keep track of such revenues.

For example; if you work falls under visual arts such as: paintings, drawings, sculpture, etc..., the USA does recognize some "limited" moral rights which does not apply on other works! Thus the Author may in this case have some "Parental" authority to track & follow up on his work to prevent any negligence & distortion and/or prejudice to his reputation, which would serve as a beneficial tracking method of how & where your work is being distributed.

As for the registration itself in either case, is not required to acquire & maintain the copyright, as the the work is considered protected upon creation; but in certain cases brought to trial such as infringement it is a prerequisite. As for deposit in the Copyright Office for the use of the Congress Library, 2 copies should be deposited within 3 months of publication in the United States or else you shall be subject to fines & other penalties although non-deposit does not affect the protection itself!

I believe this should provide you with sufficient information as to where you stand in the referred matter; howver, if you need further details, don't hesitate to contact me to refer you to one of our affiliate IP lawyers practicing in the USA.