Copyright |
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HOW TO: Copyrighting Your Photography
Photography is considered intellectual property owned by its creator. Both digital files or film captured by a camera are considered visual art works. You immediately own and control your photos and can use the copyright symbol to identify yourself as the copyright owner. But the most effective way to protect your work is to register the photo with the United States Copyright Office (Copyright.gov). Understanding Copyright A copyright means you, as a creator, have the right to control the rights associated with making copies of your work. Although the steps to registering a photo are simple and straight forward, many photographers don't bother with or know about copyright law. The main reason to register your work is to prove you were the first to submit such an image to the Copyright Office. Registration is definitive documentation that can stand up in court, whereas other forms of proof, such as mailing photos to yourself, are not as effective at proving authorship. If you don't want people capitalizing from your work without permission or licensing, you cannot avoid registering your photography. Registration is necessary if you ever file an infringement claim against someone. Just because anyone on your social media list of followers can easily download one of your photos from Facebook doesn't mean they have the right to use it publicly without your consent. Even though many professional bloggers violate copyright law when they use someone else's photo without permission, the practice is so common that copyright law isn't taken seriously by many people, including professionals. But the law is still in your favor as an owner if you want to protect your photography from being exploited in ways in which you don't approve. 
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How to Apply for a Copyright Registration
Be aware that filling out an application improperly can delay the registration process. Here are basic steps to registering photography, as required by the U.S. Copyright Office: 1. Determine if the work is published or unpublished 2. Fill out the registration application 3. Pay the registration fee to the U.S. Copyright Office 4. Submit a digital copy of each photo being registered |
If you don't wish to pay a registration fee for every photo you take, you can register several photos at once in a batch of no more than 750 images. If you submit a batch you should provide a list of photos with titles and the month and year each was taken. It's still important not to overload the batch with too many images, which can complicate a court case. A copyright may cover both published and unpublished original works, but the Copyright Office encourages photographers to register a work before it is published.
You can submit your digital copies online, using the JPEG, GIF or TIFF format within a zip file. You may also mail a CD-R, DVD-R or flash drive to the Copyright Office. Learn more about registration details and options at Copyright.gov.
You can submit your digital copies online, using the JPEG, GIF or TIFF format within a zip file. You may also mail a CD-R, DVD-R or flash drive to the Copyright Office. Learn more about registration details and options at Copyright.gov.
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