Registering photos?

[Robert Wilde]

I just read on another thread that you can and should register your photos.

I know you can register written documents for increased copyright protection, but photos? Where?

Copyright is usually created when the work is created, registering would give a better way to prove your authorship.

Is it necessary to register photos?

[KevinStecyk]

It is NOT necessary to register your copyright, but it does afford you certain benefits.

Rather than providing you with my interpretation, I'll simply refer you to the copyright site and ask you to read the Basics & FAQs.

U.S. Copyright Office

Copyright Office Basics

U.S. Copyright Office - Frequently Asked Questions

If you read through the bottom two links, you'll have a much better understanding.

[Robert Wilde]

Thanks, Kevin, for these valuable links.

[KevinStecyk]

Hi Robert,

You're welcome.

Here's another link that I should have included originally.

ASMP: Copyright Application Tutorial

Best regards,
Kevin

[Mike Keller]

That tutorial is helpful, but I've already hit a question.

Is there any advantage or disadvantage to registering your photos as unpublished work?

For instance, you do a shoot. To make life easy, you decide to copyright everything (that you don't actually throw out on the first edit) as unpublished work, to avoid having to make two separate copyright submissions after some work has been delivered, reviewed by client, posted to a website or whatever. Any issues with that?

[KevinStecyk]

Hi Mike,

Originally Posted by Mike Keller

That tutorial is helpful, but I've already hit a question.

Is there any advantage or disadvantage to registering your photos as unpublished work?

For instance, you do a shoot. To make life easy, you decide to copyright everything (that you don't actually throw out on the first edit) as unpublished work, to avoid having to make two separate copyright submissions after some work has been delivered, reviewed by client, posted to a website or whatever. Any issues with that?

In the situation you describe, yes, you could file everything as unpublished. One benefit of registering unpublished photo is that, using the paper registration process, there is no limitation to the number of unpublished photos.

Using the paper registration process, however, you are limited to 750 published photos. With the paper process, you need to itemize each photo.

The definition of what is and is not published is a gray area. My understanding is that there isn't clear case law yet.

However, if, as you describe, you shoot and then register everything prior to showing it to others in any form (no internet publishing, no emails etc.), then clearly it is unpublished.

The only downside with that approach is that you need register you images after every shoot. Most people pool their shots from several shoots and then submit their batch of photos.

So it becomes a question of cost and convenience.

I hope that helps.

Best regards,
Kevin