15 Comments

• #1 by Mark Fink on October 31, 2012 - 1:29 pm

  

  I have a question about registering my images. (I just ordered your book by the way!) You had a great suggestion about registering all of your images after you return from a shoot before you even begin editing. In my situation, since I shoot mosaics that I will later stitch together, if I did that, it would only be the component images that would be registered, and not the final stitched images. I’m assuming I should not only register all my images prior to stitching, but also after stitching.

  The downside of that is that stitching and post-production take awhile, so I get a few images done a week, and it may be months or even years before I get to all of the shots from a trip. Now I’m looking at registering a handful here and there as I complete them, which adds to the time as well as cost. Do you have a suggestion on how to handle this otherwise?

  Thanks,

  Mark

• #2 by Jack and Ed on October 31, 2012 - 3:44 pm

  

  Mark, Registering all the parts cover you when you make the whole, the pano. The pano is a derivative of your images and you own any derivatives of your work. You don’t really need to register it, but like belt and suspenders, wouldn’t hurt, but it’s not needed.

• #3 by Mark Fink on October 31, 2012 - 3:53 pm

  

  I hadn’t thought of it that way – glad I asked the question! So, what I’ll do is start registering ALL my images now, or at least once the book arrives later in the week, then maybe a couple times a year, register the final mosaics and VR panos, (my other work is at http://www.virtual-travels.com), once I finish assembling them.

  Thanks!

• #4 by Lisa on October 31, 2012 - 4:36 pm

  

  I have always been a bit OCD about my contracts and model releases. It’s a strange enjoyment I have for that stuff. Thank you for reaching out to us photographers, your info is extremely valuable!

  I have one question about an iPhone app I use for models: Within the app after it is signed it automatically emails it to me and the model once he/she signs it. Is that valid and enforceable in court as proof rather than simply a paper form? I keep most of my paperwork digital and I’d like to keep it that way, but just do it smartly and securely. What are you thoughts?

• #5 by Glenn Hubbers on October 31, 2012 - 9:59 pm

  

  Jack & Ed, I’ve heard you guys before but it was great to get a refresher on the latest segment of TWiP. I was wondering if you can point me to any resources (or people like yourselves) in Canada? Most of what I can find online about copyright, registration etc is all written/discussed from an American perspective, and I’d like to know the specifics of how a Canadian photographer should follow the same path.

• #6 by Jack and Ed on November 1, 2012 - 2:36 pm

  

  Hey Glenn, Don’t know a Canadian source, but I do know Canadian Copyright Law is different than US law. A big difference is that in many cases, the commissioning party owns the copyright and photographers have to regain it through their paperwork. Canada also passed an Orphan Works bill a few years ago and that’s still being worked on here in the US. Best you find a Canadian Intellectual Property lawyer and have them fill you in and go over your paperwork. But if you register in the US as a Canadian citizen residing in Canada, you are still protected for works appearing in the US. You can sue in the US under our laws for infringement here. But best to find a Canadian lawyer. – Jack

• #7 by Daniel Ernst on November 4, 2012 - 4:04 pm

  

  Jack & Ed,
  I bought your book after a mention on TWIP last year, and the recent TWIP episode about model releases was a good refresher. Thanks for the good work that you do.

  I’ve been following your advice, registering my images regularly. I often create images weekly, and need to post them publicly soon after to my flickr account. I’m not a professional. I would be hard pressed to register a batch for $35 every week before posting photos. However, I’ve been taking advantage of the three month grace period, always careful to register all my images taken in each quarter by the last day of that quarter. For example, I started a registration about a week before 9/30/2012, and finished uploading every image I made between 7/1/2012 and 9/30/2012 on or before 9/30/2012, then marked the uploading as final on 9/30/2012. I registered all my photos at once, in a single registration; both published images, and those that didn’t make it to the web. I listed 7/1/2012 as the first publish date.

  Are all my images protected as of 7/1/2012, or am I doing something wrong by mixing published and not-published images in the same batch? If I’m doing something wrong, how would you suggest I handle future registrations?

  Thanks for your advice,
  Dan

• #8 by Jack and Ed on November 4, 2012 - 4:16 pm

  

  Dan, You can NOT register published and unpublished. The copyright office s very clear about that. There is no work around in that regard. The 3 month grace period is ONLY for published work, from date of first publication. All we can tell you is to register all your work as unpublished before publication. That’s the copyright law as it exists. There isn’t a loophole.
  Not sure I understand your dating, but with a group of published work, it’s the date from first publication. Registering published work is a bit more tricky that unpublished. We recommend registering all your work unpublished and you’ll be protected when it is later published.

• #9 by Daniel Ernst on November 4, 2012 - 4:45 pm

  

  I’m still hoping to avoid the cost of registering every week. Let’s say I’m only concerned with the work I’m going to publish. Let’s also say I’m shooting six weekly events, all part of the same series. Would it be proper to post each week’s photos as they occur, and then register them all as a series of published work starting with the publication date of the first batch (all being published within a three month period)?

• #10 by Jack and Ed on November 4, 2012 - 5:10 pm

  

  I do believe that if you do it that way, all the published work (it needs to be actually published) done as a group, you’ll be OK. There are some rules about published collections. Make sure you title each image with a short description in the title. If you use the file name the camera gives it or name it just “photo_01” they may not accept it. You might need names like “SmithMeeting12_01”. In the end, it may pay to call the Copyright Office directly and get someone to talk to with your specifics.
  Also, to avoid the Flickr TOS, you may consider uploading to your computer and then just linking to the photos rather than uploading to Flickr, but that’s a whole article by itself.

• #11 by Daniel Ernst on November 4, 2012 - 5:30 pm

  

  A common series name in the filename makes sense. I’ll also follow your advice and call the Copyright Office. Thanks for your help.

  I can’t wait to read that future article about the Flickr TOS. I’ve read the TOS carefully and thought it was reasonable, but it sounds like you and Ed have some reservations about it.

• #12 by Bret Farris on December 7, 2012 - 12:09 pm

  

  I got your book right after I heard this TWIP episode. I’m working on registering all my photos right now. But, I’m a little confused on the Published works issue. I have about 81 images that I’ve published to Facebook going back about a year. If I register these as published I’m assuming I will have to indicate the first date of publishing a year ago. Is that correct? Or should I split them up somehow? Is the three month grace period just that? A grace period? I can still register them as published if they are older than that, right?

• #13 by Jack and Ed on December 7, 2012 - 12:44 pm

  

  Hi Bret,
  Yes, list the first date of publication. Call this collection something like “Facebook Collection 2011 to 2012”. Make the collection name descriptive of what is in the collection. The Copyright Office prefers that (but not a must do). You don’t have to split them up, unless for some reason or for clarity, you want to. As far as the 3 months, nothing seems to confuse people more than that issue. The 3 month grace period is about infringement. If someone infringes within the 3 months, and you register within 3 months of your first publication, you’re still fully protected. As opposed to not being fully protected if infringed before you register. You can register at any point, well after publication if you want. But if you register 4 months after 1st publication and someone infringed 2 months after 1st publication, you lose some of the legal options, like statutory damages. But if you are infringed 2 months after 1st publication and you register after the infringement, but within the 3 month window after 1st publication, you still have all the benefits as though you registered prior to the infringement. That is the grace period. But not to make it too confusing, you can always register your images even well after 3 months of publication. The 3 months has nothing to do with your ability to register them. Hope that clarifies a bit what seems to be a confusing topic.

• #14 by Bret Farris on December 7, 2012 - 12:49 pm

  

  Thanks! That clears it up completely. You said in your interview that there is a beta for uploading multiple images as published now. Is that part of the same process as uploading non-published works? Or do I need to sign up for the beta?

  Loved your book and can’t wait for the next one. 🙂

• #15 by Bret Farris on December 7, 2012 - 1:47 pm

  

  Never mind my last question. I just did my first registration and it was easy! Easy! Easy! Easy! Now I can’t wait to publish all the others I took in the last year. I hope it’s not a problem to upload thousands for my first set of unpublished images. 🙂

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