Just a friendly reminder to send your image CDs in to the Library of Congress for copyright registration....
It's true that as the creator of a photographic work, you own the copyright from the start. Putting your copyright notice near the image every time it's published is a good idea...
But keep in mind that unless the image is registered with the Library of Congress, you can't collect any monetary damages from someone using your images illegally.
Last week I consulted a photographer about embedding metadata into the images (using Adobe Bridge). This is a critical first step if you're sending your images out to the world via the internet.
Periodically, burn a disc with a full collection of your most recent work and mail it in with the form to get the full protection of the law.
Definitely worth the trouble, and the $30 fee per registration covers as many images as you can get on a disc!
I do pretty good with my Meta file however there are a few fields I feel prety inept about There are the Basics such a Title, Description, Author, and Website with email and all that I understand, but what is the importance of all the rest. i generally edit from the Bridge and even from the converted Tif file using the file menue function to edit file information in CS2.
I understand that you can send in a CD packed with images, but what I can't figure out is how you provide a title for each image on the form that they give. Six hundred image names just won't fit on that line.
Erik - on the form, provide a title for the entire collection you are submitting plus a range of numbers, if applicable, and use the same number range for the file names on the CD.
Example: title the CD and the collection "Erik Stensland Photographs 2001-2006"
Obviously this gets into issues of how to name and catalog your digital files, which is outside the scope of this discussion. But as the copyright owner, you can call it whatever you want for the purpose of registering the copyright, so long as you can reference it later by the same name.
Alternatively, you could choose to copyright only those images which you designate as "selects" and have given other names to; this will reduce the number of files you submit for each collection.
Richie - the workflow I've been using includes entering metadata as the first step after copying to the hard drive. This way, all the resulting files - JPG, TIFF, PSD, whatever, all start with the same set of metadata. After assigning metadata to an image, from then on, you have to explicitly choose to save without it. So it makes sense to me to tag the files from the start.
James - there are two places you need to check to set the metadata in Bridge. Keep in mind that you can apply metadata to multiple files at once. You can even save a metadata template to load in without having to retype stuff.
In Bridge, basically, you want to select all the files in a given folder first. Then, on the Metadata tab, put in values for the category called IPTC Core. Any field that is editable has a pencil icon next to it.
After entering metadata here, still with all the files selected, you should select File Info... from under the File menu. In that dialog box, you'll see a dropdown menu for copyright status, make sure it is set to Copyrighted. Then enter your copyright info on the other fields. This is one area where loading a saved template is very helpful.
Watch the Bridge status indicator at the bottom left of the window after doing these steps; you'll see that it is updating metadata for all the images. Note that if you have opted to store metadata in Sidecar files (under Bridge Preferences) this will result in .xml files being created for each file.
Because RAW files are proprietary, Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw can't write to them. All these changes to metadata, and any settings made in ACR, are either stored in a Sidecar file (recommended) or in the Camera Raw Database.
This is getting into stuff better suited for another Thread.
The main points of this thread are: 1) tag all your images with your copyright metadata before you do anything with them, and 2) burn a disc and send it to the Library of Congress. Just doing those two things will ensure full protection - and potential monetary awards - if someone decides to rip you off.
PS - we can also discuss using watermarking services like Digimarc; although expensive, that is another thing you can do to safeguard your digital files.
Thanks for the info Nat! One question... I assume a disc full of web-sized images would be sufficient and that large-size images are not necessary... is this correct?
Jack - you are correct - the resolution requirements are only that you can prove it is your work. Low-res/web-res is just fine, unless you think there is something in the image that would need high resolution to prove it's yours, in which case, sending a high-res file would be better.
Think about your copyright registration in terms of "if I have to prove I made this picture", what would that require?
One helpful hint I learned is to give the copyright office a call and speak to one of the copyright clerks. Ask some questions about what type of information is needed, size of images, format of images, media, etc.. After being chatty ask the clerk's name.
Given that all general deliveries to the copyright office end up in a big bin and await a clerk to pick them out processing of your copyrights could take weeks if not months. To work around this simply ship your CD/DVD-R directly to the person you spoke to. In the case of Fedex/UPS they deliver the package directly to that person's desk and you make it to the top of the file...and get faster processing. Be sure to include a letter thanking the clerk for their assistance on the phone! Repeat as necessary.
One thing to make sure of is that you don't end up speaking/sending your information to the head clerk of the copyright office. Make sure it is one of the general clerks.
Hope this helps!
Posted by Scott Bideau on March 20, 2012 at 7:21 PM
I just spent a few minutes going through the Library of Congress information and was quite surprised by the requirement to be registered before filing an infringement suite, the added protection you're given for collecting attorneys fees when registered before a certain time period, etc. This was very interesting to me - thank you.
After running a non-photography business for almost two decades and being a plaintiff in several lawsuits, my experience has been that those who intentionally violate your rights have no money to collect and thus are a waste of time to prosecute. Awarding attorneys fees is far different than collecting them :)
Discussion
10 repliesIt's true that as the creator of a photographic work, you own the copyright from the start. Putting your copyright notice near the image every time it's published is a good idea...
But keep in mind that unless the image is registered with the Library of Congress, you can't collect any monetary damages from someone using your images illegally.
Last week I consulted a photographer about embedding metadata into the images (using Adobe Bridge). This is a critical first step if you're sending your images out to the world via the internet.
Periodically, burn a disc with a full collection of your most recent work and mail it in with the form to get the full protection of the law.
Definitely worth the trouble, and the $30 fee per registration covers as many images as you can get on a disc!
http://www.copyright.gov/register/visual.html
Is this small jpegs you mail off or monster 700MB scans?
RichieV
Example: title the CD and the collection "Erik Stensland Photographs 2001-2006"
Obviously this gets into issues of how to name and catalog your digital files, which is outside the scope of this discussion. But as the copyright owner, you can call it whatever you want for the purpose of registering the copyright, so long as you can reference it later by the same name.
Alternatively, you could choose to copyright only those images which you designate as "selects" and have given other names to; this will reduce the number of files you submit for each collection.
Richie - the workflow I've been using includes entering metadata as the first step after copying to the hard drive. This way, all the resulting files - JPG, TIFF, PSD, whatever, all start with the same set of metadata. After assigning metadata to an image, from then on, you have to explicitly choose to save without it. So it makes sense to me to tag the files from the start.
James - there are two places you need to check to set the metadata in Bridge. Keep in mind that you can apply metadata to multiple files at once. You can even save a metadata template to load in without having to retype stuff.
In Bridge, basically, you want to select all the files in a given folder first. Then, on the Metadata tab, put in values for the category called IPTC Core. Any field that is editable has a pencil icon next to it.
After entering metadata here, still with all the files selected, you should select File Info... from under the File menu. In that dialog box, you'll see a dropdown menu for copyright status, make sure it is set to Copyrighted. Then enter your copyright info on the other fields. This is one area where loading a saved template is very helpful.
Watch the Bridge status indicator at the bottom left of the window after doing these steps; you'll see that it is updating metadata for all the images. Note that if you have opted to store metadata in Sidecar files (under Bridge Preferences) this will result in .xml files being created for each file.
Because RAW files are proprietary, Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw can't write to them. All these changes to metadata, and any settings made in ACR, are either stored in a Sidecar file (recommended) or in the Camera Raw Database.
This is getting into stuff better suited for another Thread.
The main points of this thread are: 1) tag all your images with your copyright metadata before you do anything with them, and 2) burn a disc and send it to the Library of Congress. Just doing those two things will ensure full protection - and potential monetary awards - if someone decides to rip you off.
PS - we can also discuss using watermarking services like Digimarc; although expensive, that is another thing you can do to safeguard your digital files.
Think about your copyright registration in terms of "if I have to prove I made this picture", what would that require?
Given that all general deliveries to the copyright office end up in a big bin and await a clerk to pick them out processing of your copyrights could take weeks if not months. To work around this simply ship your CD/DVD-R directly to the person you spoke to. In the case of Fedex/UPS they deliver the package directly to that person's desk and you make it to the top of the file...and get faster processing. Be sure to include a letter thanking the clerk for their assistance on the phone! Repeat as necessary.
One thing to make sure of is that you don't end up speaking/sending your information to the head clerk of the copyright office. Make sure it is one of the general clerks.
Hope this helps!
After running a non-photography business for almost two decades and being a plaintiff in several lawsuits, my experience has been that those who intentionally violate your rights have no money to collect and thus are a waste of time to prosecute. Awarding attorneys fees is far different than collecting them :)