Copyright

I apologize to my two (so far) members for the long pause between posts here.

Right now I'm focusing on copyrighting my images with the U. S. Copyright Office.  It has become an easier process since the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and the Copyright Alliance have clarified the steps necesarry to get the ball rolling.  I know that once I do the first listing it will be easy to copyright all of my new images before putting them on the web.  From this point, I expect to be more courageous in giving my images a larger web presence.

While images are copyrighted the minute you create them, they aren't very well protected in an infringement case taken to court if they are not registered with the Copyright Office.  Best to officially register your copyright before you put them on the web or at other points of publication.  Doing this online gives you almost instant protection. The registration is effective on the date the application, fee and deposit are received in acceptable form by the Copyright Office, regardless of the time the Office takes to process your application and mail you the certificate of registration (which can take up to eight months.) Obviously, sending your registration with a CD of your work by snail mail will take much longer.   

Here's what ASMP says registering your work can do for you (taken from the ASMP Business Resources, Copyright Tutorial page http://asmp.org/tutorials/copyright-overview.html):

• You have the full weight of the law on your side if you are infringed.
• You can file an infringement suit. 
• You can more easily secure an attorney to take your infringement case.
• If you register your work prior to infringement (or within three months of first publication), you can ask for statutory damages and attorney fees if you win an infringement case.
• You can use your registration as leverage to get paid by defaulting clients.
• You have added protection against anyone claiming your work is an "orphaned" work.
• You are adding value to the services you provide your clients by protecting the investment they have made.

ASMP has launched a new initiative called Registration ©ounts to bring awareness to copyright issues, encourage all photographers to register their work, and to provide the tools and information needed for registration.

Their Tutorials & Forms page is available to anyone and can be found at http://asmp.org/links/8

For anything you've ever wanted to know about Copyright, go to http://www.copyright.gov/

Please post your experiences of becoming empowered or living larger through your art.