Registering Copyright

[Alex_B]

how much do you usually earn with one image?

Ask yourself, if it is worth the hassle registering your copyright.

You have the copyright the moment you create the image anyway, and you can prove it by having the unprocessed/unaltered file in your archive.

If this is different in the US, well ... still quite an effort to register everything.

 

[KD5NRH]

how much do you usually earn with one image?

The ability to recover legal fees on a registered work is a pretty good incentive, considering how quickly the legal fees will exceed the sale value of the work.

Besides, $35 for an entire CD of photos isn't that bad.

 

[Alleh Lindquist]

Yeah the point is getting your legal fees back and statutory damages. Without being able to claim those most people would never have the ability to take on a major corporation for copyright infringement. It is simple, if the work is not registered all your copyright is, is the ability to say “hey that’s mine” aside from that basically nothing. Also you don’t have 90 days from the day of an infringement to file and have 90 days from the date published. If you wait over those 90 days then your ability to sue for statutory damages and legal fees starts on the day you file.

The fee is not $35 per image it is $35 each time you submit. You just have to compile your images every 90 days and submit them giving you a yearly cost of $140 to be fully protected

This is not for amateurs, Yes it would be a waste of time and money. I put this information out here for emerging pros and commercial hopefuls. Also if you sell stock at the higher end (Getty, Corbis) you need to register also.

 

[RacePhoto]

Also you don’t have 90 days from the day of an infringement to file and have 90 days from the date published. If you wait over those 90 days then your ability to sue for statutory damages and legal fees starts on the day you file.

The fee is not $35 per image it is $35 each time you submit. You just have to compile your images every 90 days and submit them giving you a yearly cost of $140 to be fully protected

Yes, making a DVD of 800x??? images isn't that expensive for someone to protect their works.

But about the first point. Is it 90 days from date published, or 90 days from the date you discover the infringement? Big difference.

 

[KD5NRH]

But about the first point. Is it 90 days from date published, or 90 days from the date you discover the infringement? Big difference.

Within 5 years of publication to be prima facie evidence of ownership:
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#automatic

Within 3 months after publication, or prior to an infringement to recover statutory damages and attorney's fees:
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#cr