Copyrighting Your Work

shelby16 · Apr 24, 2013

Big question! Do YOU do this? Because I just read about this website through Vol. 4 of Scott Kelby's "The Digital Photography Book".
He recommends this website: U.S. Copyright Office - Online Services (eCO: Electronic Copyright Office)
Honestly, I need someone to help me make sense of this. When do you use this? What is the real purpose? I'm so confused. Don't people just tag photos anyway?

Let me know your opinion, what this really means, if you do it, ect.

Thanks.

Overread · Apr 24, 2013

I'm sure KmH will be here t ogive you a more formal set of links for info; but in short in the USA if you copyright a photo through the copyright channels then you can potentially gain more recovered from the other party in the case that you go to court over a photo being used without your permission.

Without registering you can still sue, but there is a limit as to how much return you can get/what you can specifically sue for.

You still always have the copyright the moment the shutter is pressed; that never changes, its just the amount you can claim when going to court (at least in the USA)

shelby16 · Apr 24, 2013

Overread said:
I'm sure KmH will be here t ogive you a more formal set of links for info; but in short in the USA if you copyright a photo through the copyright channels then you can potentially gain more recovered from the other party in the case that you go to court over a photo being used without your permission.

Without registering you can still sue, but there is a limit as to how much return you can get/what you can specifically sue for.

You still always have the copyright the moment the shutter is pressed; that never changes, its just the amount you can claim when going to court (at least in the USA)

This makes PERFECT sense, thank you.

Buckster · Apr 24, 2013

This is a one hour 50 minute lecture about copyright, and you really should watch it:

A Great Lecture About Photography and The Copyright Law | DIYPhotography.net

Yes, 1:50 is a long video to watch, but copyright issues aren't something easily summed up in a sentence or two, other than to say: You should do it and there are a lot of really good reasons why you should do it. Pause it when you need a break, but watch the whole thing over some period of time if you really want to know the deal with copyrights and what they mean to you. There's a lot of misinformation and downright bad information being passed around on the internet, so watch the video, where a photographer and his copyright attorney explain it with no internet-wannabe-lawyer-on-some-forum-bull involved.

Copyrighting photos is cheap and it's easy. Every 3 months, I upload every image I've shot in that time period to the US copyright office at the link you posted, pay the $35 fee, then just sit back and wait for the certificate to show up in the mail.

Light Guru · Apr 24, 2013

Get yourself a copy of this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Survival-Manual-Artists-Photography/dp/1600594204

shelby16 · Apr 24, 2013

Thank you EVERYONE! Very good comments and I will look into everything that was posted.

KmH · Apr 24, 2013

The US Copyright Office web site is the place that has the most accurate information.
I would also recommend visiting Photo Attorney and www.http://thecopyrightzone.com/ too.

While your photos are copyrighted as soon as they are recorded in a tangible medium, like the memory card in your camera, your copyright has little legal traction until it is registered with the feds.
Few professional photographers (less than 5%) register their copyrights prior to an infringement, which is a very poor business practice.

Here in the US, copyright is federal law - United States Code (USC) 17 - U.S. Copyright Office - Copyright Law of the United States

USC 17 §411 says:

My emphasis
§411 · Registration and civil infringement actions

(a) Except for an action brought for a violation of the rights of the author under section 106A(a), and subject to the provisions of subsection (b), no civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until preregistration or registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title........

The timing of registration determines if statutory or actual damages can be sought. There is a $150,000 per infringed image award limit for statutory damages, and no limit for actual damages.
Actual damages have to be proven, statutory damages don't.

If your actual damages are negligible, but the infringed image(s) were registered prior to the infringement, statutory damages can be sought instead of actual damages.