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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Copyright submittal?
Alex Menendez, Photographer
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Orlando | FL | USA | Posted: 9:30 PM on 06.22.06 |
->> I am looking for answers from somebody who registers their photos on a regular basis. I want to know if I can submit work from different shoots (dates) at the same time and how do I deliver them-on CD or DVD? Also, how many images and what size do you submit them as? Does each photo need to have a particular name as well? I will be calling the Copyright office tomorrow to get info but wanted to hear from experienced shooters.
The official website says: "A collection of unpublished images can similarly be published as a group. You cannot register a mixed collection of published and unpublished works. Contact the Copyright Office for more information."
Thanks to all. alex |
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Tim Gasperak, Photographer
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San Francisco | CA | USA | Posted: 10:52 PM on 06.22.06 |
->> Alex-
There are great resources online:
http://www.editorialphoto.com/copyright/
http://www.asmp.org/commerce/legal/copyright/
http://www.peterkrogh.com/copyright/main.html
You can register an unlimited number of unpublished images in bulk regardless of when they were taken. Published images can be registered in bulk so long as they are from the same calendar year, but to get the full benefit of the registration, you should register published images either as unpublished works before the date of actual publication, or within 90 days from the date of publication. Unpublished images and published images cannot be registered at the same time-- they have to be separate filings.
You can submit a CD or DVD of digital contact sheets or low-res images, but it is recommended that you submit a set of printed contact sheets as well due to the questionable longevity of the CDs. The images on the contact sheet need to be legible and either color or black and white depending on how they were originally shot. You should generally submit them with some kind of identifier on the contact sheets: a file name is fine.
The best way to go about this is to use an image catalogue/browser tool like Photo Mechanic or iView Media Pro or Adobe Bridge to automate the creation of the contact sheets or reduced-size, low-res images. Any of these tools can process 1000s of images in minutes.
Copyright fees go up to $45 per registration (from $30/per) on July 1. Now is a great time to do it. Send out the registration package via Priority Mail with delivery confirmation and you're all set. |
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David Harpe, Photographer
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Louisville | KY | USA | Posted: 11:23 PM on 06.22.06 |
->> unlimited number
There was a recent change with published images - only 500 images or less may be registered at one time. Not sure if it applies to unpublished or not...check the copyright site for verbage. |
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John Harrington, Photographer
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 2:27 AM on 06.23.06 |
->> David --
The limitation of 500 applies only if you are using the Copyright Office form CON -- which stands for "continuation". You may register, by year, an unlimited number of images. The image must be identified by the date it was shot -- often a filename of "2006_06_23_xxxx.jpg is acceptable, and can be generated using the metadata by Photo Mechanic, and other apps. In section 1 of the Form VA, you must indicate "GROUP REGISTRATION/PHOTOS", and further denote "x,xxx photographs". I enter both these as two lines under "Nature of this work".
In section 3b, you must include the range of dates of publication. You may enter -- 01/20/06 - 06/23/06 in that section, and the CO finds that acceptable.
I submit images on CD -- 7" longside, 150 dpi. This is suitable for review by the copyright office's examiners, who will spot-check your registration images, and must be in JPEG format. A viewer is not necessary to have on the CD.
I have registered over 300,000 images with the CO, with images that go back to 1990. Each month, I register my assignments methodically. If my first assignment for May was on 5/6, and my last assignmen was on 5/28, then that is the range of dates of publication I include. Since all clients have the right to recieve and further distribute to the public images I shoot for them on assignment -- as early as the same day, it is perfectly appropriate -- and more importantly accurate -- to denote the date of publication as the date it was shot, since publication is defined as "the offerring to distribute...".
John |
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Alex Menendez, Photographer
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Orlando | FL | USA | Posted: 8:57 AM on 06.23.06 |
| ->> You guys ROCK! Thanks for all the info, I will be contacting the Copyright office via phone today and now have some idea as to the questions I will ask them. I wasn't quite sure how easy of a process this was and wanted to ask the right questions before screwing it up. Thanks again for your replies.alex |
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Harrison Shull, Photographer
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Asheville | NC | USA | Posted: 9:54 AM on 06.23.06 |
->> I'm not sure what others have been doing when it comes to submitting copyright registration via CD, but all the talk about limited archivability of the CD medium creates the potential nightmare of inaccessible data when you are trying to pursue an infringment in 2, 5, or 10 years from now.
To improve my odds on this issue, I have been submitting two CD's with identical registration data (4" x 6" screen-res jpegs w/ metadata) on them and clearly labeling them as such. I have been using two different brands of CD (Taiyo Yuden and Sony - both near the top of the list in archival reliability) and burning them at the slowest speed I can set on my burner to improve quality.
The LOC has accepted numerous registrations like this and it gives me some peace of mind that I have done about as much as I can to improve the odds of getting one of the CD's to open when needed. I would love to accompnay all submissions with a hard copy contact sheet but it has proven to be a huge task both in terms of time/effort and cost. My last registration had over 2500 images in it. Ink, paper, and time costs to print this many images out would be HUGE. |
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