Do I need to register copyright for my code?

I publish illustrative scenarios prepared by my practice. All participants and conversations are fictional. The fictional posts are not posts by real users, accounts of client experiences, or reports of actual results.
Illustrative scenario prepared by my practice.
For informational purposes only. Not legal advice.
Hypothetical question

Building a SaaS product. Someone mentioned I should register copyright for my source code. Is that actually necessary? I thought copyright was automatic.

Illustrative response

honest question: who's actually copying startup code? in 10 years I've never heard of anyone actually suing over copied SaaS code. seems like a solution looking for a problem

Illustrative response

It happens. I found a competitor literally copy-pasted my frontend code including my comments. couldn't do much because I hadn't registered. now I register everything important

Illustrative response

Another reason to register: due diligence. If you ever sell your company or raise a proper Series A, investors will ask about IP ownership. Having registrations shows you took IP seriously. It's a "nice to have" that becomes "wish I had" later.

Illustrative response

Startup founder here. Registration matters for due diligence. Cost is 65 dollars through eCO. Register before infringement for 30K-150K statutory damages. Ensure contractor IP assignments.