Posted by Pat Theis on December 11, 2006 at 8:24 PM
Hello Everyone,
I recently took some pictures at a local wolf preserve that came out quite decent. As it's a non profit agency I wanted to give them one or two for their own use, although I don't want to give up my ownership.
In general how do you copywrite a picture? When should you copywrite?
I'm not a lawyer so take this as a layperson's interpretation of the copyright law:
In the US all images are copyrighted from the instance you make them. There's nothing you have to do. You own all rights and unless you contractually gave rights to someone else they remain yours.
Registration of copyright is needed in case you want to recoup financial losses in case someone abuses your rights. Without registration you still have the right to demand they cease and desist using your work but if your work is registered you can also sue for monetary damages.
Guy
Posted by Ed Cordes on December 11, 2006 at 10:00 PM
Registering a copyright is easy. Here is a link to a good article about it.
You may have to give a user name and password if you are not already a member.
Only modification I would add is that the cost is now $45 per submission. If you are registering already published images - read article re definition of "published"- a separate form and fee is necessary for each year of images.
I believe it is worth the effort and relatively small cost.
Posted by Richard Wong on December 12, 2006 at 1:37 AM
Have everything in writing and sign it. Keep copies for yourself and the organization. Visit the Libary of Congress website for the legal act.
Discussion
3 repliesI recently took some pictures at a local wolf preserve that came out quite decent. As it's a non profit agency I wanted to give them one or two for their own use, although I don't want to give up my ownership.
In general how do you copywrite a picture? When should you copywrite?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
In the US all images are copyrighted from the instance you make them. There's nothing you have to do. You own all rights and unless you contractually gave rights to someone else they remain yours.
Registration of copyright is needed in case you want to recoup financial losses in case someone abuses your rights. Without registration you still have the right to demand they cease and desist using your work but if your work is registered you can also sue for monetary damages.
Guy
http://www.naturescapes.net/102005/cw1005.htm
You may have to give a user name and password if you are not already a member.
Only modification I would add is that the cost is now $45 per submission. If you are registering already published images - read article re definition of "published"- a separate form and fee is necessary for each year of images.
I believe it is worth the effort and relatively small cost.