We both urge you all to let your government know how you feel about the proposed copyright registration fee increase and that you vote by writing directly to the Copyright Office at http://www.copyright.gov/docs/newfees/comments/index.html

THE DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS IS THIS MONDAY BY 5PM EST!

All too often photographers have been silent while their elected representatives have made decisions adversely affecting their ability to put food on the table.
As a result of many factors too numerous to list here, the number of professional photographers have shrunk by some 25% over the last few years and the incomes of those remaining in the business have by any measure, gone down.  The overwhelming majority of professional photographers are one person businesses and earn well less than six figures, with many having incomes of $50,000 or less.

As the economy has forced earnings to decrease technology has caused instances of copyright infringement to increase.  The outright stealing of professional photography is now an epidemic. No creatives’ work product is used without permission or payment more than that of photographers.  The infringers are typically large media companies, newspapers, magazines, television networks and large consumer product companies.  Additionally, those who infringe are usually well heeled with attorneys on staff and the financial means to dissuade most photographers from pursuing their legal rights.

The most potent weapon any creative has to level the legal playing field is the ability to bring, or even threaten to bring an action for copyright infringement. That right is embedded in the Constitution of the United States and pre-dates freedom of religion, the press or the right to bear arms.  The Founders viewed the ability to copyright one’s work as so important that they passed it at the Constitutional Convention unanimously even though 12 colonies already had their own copyright laws on the books.  A registered copyright when infringed, gives the owner the right to pursue significant money damages as well as attorneys fees.  The movie studios well know this and receive the free assistance of the FBI and all of its vast resources, to assist them in the pursuit of copyright infringers domestic and foreign. The Federal government lends no such free assistance to a solo photographer whose creation has been similarly stolen.  The sole avenue of recourse for  the solo photographer is to register his/her work and hire an attorney to enforce your claim.

A proposal has been made to substantially increase the fees to register your copyrights, from $35 per application to $65 per application.   After centuries of encouraging creators to register their works the federal government is now seeking to raise revenues from the dwindling and economically stressed, creative community.  This proportionally huge increase in registration fees simply does not take into account the miniscule to non-existent profit lines most creatives are laboring under. Even today, the average photographer is the most put upon class of copyright holders. While large media and entertainment companies can pay these increased fees without blinking an eyelash, these increases will serve as a deterrent to photographers to register their works. The fewer works that are registered, the more works that will be stolen.

The public is best served by creators registering their works. Such has been the stated position of the federal government and the federal courts for well over 200 years. Few photographers have anything close to a steady income particularly in the current economy.  Now is not the time to increase fees on the creative class who can least afford them.  The Founders held authors and creators in the highest esteem. They received and are entitled to special treatment by virtue of nothing less than the Constitution of the United States.  Deterring registration to “raise revenue” serves only the interests of those who seek to appropriate the works of others and who will violate Federal law in the process.

Perhaps, there should be a two-tier system. We believe it is ludicrous that individual photographers should be paying the same fees for registration as “Fortune 500” media and entertainment companies.

We’ll end this post, the same as we began it. We both urge you all to let your government know how you feel about this issue and that you vote by writing directly to the Copyright Office at http://www.copyright.gov/docs/newfees/comments/index.html

It will take the same time to contact the powers that be in DC as it does to post in a chat room. Contacting the bureaucrats will have more effect on your bottom line.

THE DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS IS THIS MONDAY BY 5PM EST!

You can write out your comments in Word or as a PFD and then upload.

Let your voice be heard.