We’re at it once again, doing our thing at B&H next Tuesday, June 30th from 4:00 to 5:00PM. This will cover various topics of interest to photographers and visual artists, including a bunch of stuff that keeps showing up in the news lately. Maybe it’s us because we look for it, but there seems to be more intellectual property and copyright issues in the news lately. We’ll cover location releases, excuses they hear from copyright infringers, what watermarks mean legally, photographing in public and “semi-public” places, what to do and more important not do when you’re infringed and many other hot topics important to creative people in this digital age. As usual, a lively Q&A at the end. Do sign up if you’re around. There will be a video going up online later, if you miss it. Here’s the link to register: http://bhpho.to/1JkcARF
#1 by Mark Summerfield on June 30, 2015 - 11:47 am
Sorry I am unable to attend your talk today as there is one issue which you do not cover in your book which I would like some help with. I have been registering my photos with the Copyright Office. When I get back the official certificate, there is no reference to the hundreds of shots included in the uploaded file. How do I tie the individual shots to the registration in case there are any infringements in the future? I have kept the zip file used in the upload and added a key word to the original file in Lightroom noted the Registration Number. However, will any of these be sufficient is an infringement case ever goes to court?
Many thanks
Mark
#2 by Jack and Ed on June 30, 2015 - 12:05 pm
You’re missing a great lecture Mark . But it will be taped today and uploaded online. What I do when I get the certificate is go to my master Copyright folder, that holds all my copyright folders that I uploaded and I append the registration number to the corresponding folder name. I then file the registration certificate in a safe place. We recommend in the book and all our lectures to keep track of exactly what you uploaded. When I sued for infringement, I testified under oath that the files I presented and provided was the exact folder uploaded in that registration. And the other lawyers wanted all the images in that registration, not just the contested images. If they thought I was lying, they could pay to have the Copyright Office provide the file names and images. You don’t want to lie or mislead in these procedures. Remember, Martha Stewart didn’t serve time for insider trading that she was being investigated for, she served jail time for lying under oath. In short, keep good records of what you register and never lie.