Copyright question: Ok, UHH friends. I am wondering what the best way to copyright your photos is. Is there a way to purchase a copyright at the beginning of the year and have every...

CWhite Loc: Riga, Mi

Ok, UHH friends. I am wondering what the best way to copyright your photos is. Is there a way to purchase a copyright at the beginning of the year and have every photo you take that year be covered, even if you take it in Dec? Or, do you have to copyright groups of photos as you take them?

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

An old question done to death

Unless you have hundreds of thousands to be able to sue tough.

I published a book for a friend of mine, Patrick Moore, google him.

www.sirpatrickmoore.net.

Safest way is to place whatever you want to protect in a well sealed envelope and post it to your self registered.

When it arives keep it unopened, then if you need to go to court the judge can open it and see the date you published the book, took the photos etc.

Yes copyright is yours by law, you try fighting it though with less than a few thousands.

Frank T Loc: New York, NY

Sorry, that advice may be accurate in the UK but not here in the USA. Just go to the copyright office on line and open an account. Opening it is free. Then you can copyright your photos by putting all of them in a zip file and sending it with a small fee.
Unfortunately once that file is copyrighted you can't add to it so you'll have to pay another fee for the next batch.
Right now the fee is $35.00 per copyright.

http://www.copyright.gov/eco/

KG

JR1 wrote:

Safest way is to place whatever you want to protect in a well sealed envelope and post it to your self registered.

You can mail yourself an empty unsealed envelope. It would get processed by the postal service just like any other envelope. That would get you the postal stamps you need proving the past date. In the future, you would be able to insert whatever you want in that envelope, seal it, and claim that the contents of the envelope were there all along.

Not to mention the fact that it's not hard to "unseal" the envelope (by freezing it for example) and re-seal later on.

That's why, this whole envelope thing is a horrible idea. Doing so offers absolutely no protection because judges know all those tricks.

It's one of those examples of bad advice that people just keep passing on to each other for some weird reason.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

JR1 wrote:

An old question done to death

Safest way is to place whatever you want to protect in a well sealed envelope and post it to your self registered.

When it arives keep it unopened, then if you need to go to court the judge can open it and see the date you published the book, took the photos etc.

:thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown:
:thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown:

This myth proves absolutely nothing. In a federal court you would take a worse licking than those stamps.

CWhite Loc: Riga, Mi

JR1 wrote:

An old question done to death br br Unless you ha... (show quote)

Thanks for the thought, but no thanks. Will look into US copyright laws.

CWhite Loc: Riga, Mi

Frank T wrote:

Sorry, that advice may be accurate in the UK but not here in the USA. Just go to the copyright office on line and open an account. Opening it is free. Then you can copyright your photos by putting all of them in a zip file and sending it with a small fee.
Unfortunately once that file is copyrighted you can't add to it so you'll have to pay another fee for the next batch.
Right now the fee is $35.00 per copyright.

http://www.copyright.gov/eco/

Thanks FrankT. You have answered my question, now I know if I decide to pursue having my work covered by copyright.

acutance Loc: New Hampshire

There are two levels of copyright in the USA. The first is a natural copyright that any creator has in their work. The second is a "registered" copyright, where you have submitted the materials, and they are registered with the copyright office. with the fee paid. The latter provides much better protection, including attorneys fees if you sue and win. Suit without registration does present issues of proof, too. Any case has questions of damages: how much did the use cost you? For most of us, not much.

CWhite Loc: Riga, Mi

acutance wrote:

There are two levels of copyright in the USA. The ... (show quote)

Thanks acutance, These are things I have thought of. Not sure when I should start to worry about it. For now, my work is in it's infancy. I think I will wait and see how things grow before sending our government any of my money. This was just something sitting in the back of my mind (not that there is a lot anywhere in my mind :mrgreen: )

ole sarg Loc: south florida

Why do you think someone would want to steal your work?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

CWhite wrote:

Ok, UHH friends. I am wondering what the best way to copyright your photos is. Is there a way to purchase a copyright at the beginning of the year and have every photo you take that year be covered, even if you take it in Dec? Or, do you have to copyright groups of photos as you take them?

This is a common topic here, with no definitive answer. If you're really serious about protecting your rights, see a copyright lawyer.

Ultimately, the real problem comes when you think someone has violated your copyright. What do you do then? How many thousands of dollars will you be willing to spend to fight it in court? Practically speaking, there's a difference between having a copyright on a book and having one on a photograph. It's much easier to copy and use a photo than an entire book.

coastlawyer Loc: Coastal Mississippi

CWhite wrote:

quote=acutance There are two levels of copyright ... (show quote)

Good advice from acutance.

Be aware that "without registration copyright" does applies to each photo you have taken. I suggest you adapt a watermark to use on all of your proofs you pass on, and proofs should be of size between 200 X 200, (the size of our avatars,) and 640 X 480.

You could advise that the photos are copyright property and the watermark should not be removed from the proofs.

George Kwain

Check out this site for good info.

http://thecopyrightzone.com/

TGanner Loc: Haines, Alaska

Sometimes I watermark photos so that they become a bit less usable, but otherwise I dont particularly care if someone wants to download a 200 kb file that is online. How far can they go with a file that size? Those who are interested in owning a photography worth displaying on the wall will make the purchase through me.

CanonFire Loc: Phoenixville, PA

CWhite wrote:

Ok, UHH friends. I am wondering what the best way to copyright your photos is. Is there a way to purchase a copyright at the beginning of the year and have every photo you take that year be covered, even if you take it in Dec? Or, do you have to copyright groups of photos as you take them?

You can register your copyrights using the Electronic Copyright Office System and upload your photos directly to the US Copyright Office. The beauty of the system is that you are not limited to uploading 1 image, you can upload multiple images and copyright them all at the same time for 1 fee, which is $45.

Here's a link that explains the conditions for using the system, how to use it, and includes step by step instructions on how to complete each screen.

http://www.naturescapes.net/docs/index.php/articles/341

It's also interesting to note, that while "natural copyright" gives you the right to sue for infringement, it severly limits what you can collect. Few Lawyers will take a case for infringement of "natural copyright" unless you have big money. On the other hand, if you register your copyright you can collect statutory damages of up to $150,000 plus court costs and legal fees. Many lawyers would work on contingency under those circumstances.