Copyright your work

Do you have insurance for your camera… YES?  Then why don’t you have insurance for your photos? The cost of insurance to copyright your work is only $35.00.

I admit I don’t have all the answers, but I know who and where to find them. Continuing my research on the legal side of photography took me to, you guest it, kelbytraining.com. Like my other post, I write these articles as basic notes to myself and to share them with friends. I encourage you to sit through the 90 minute video class with Jack Reznicki and  Ed Greenberg.

For those who don’t have time but need the information, I’m outlining what I interpreted from the class. The benefits from watching the video enables you to hear advice from the experts and download any materials they have. Keep in mind, because you have these rights doesn’t mean you have to exercise them, but they are good to have!

To copyright your work, go to copyright.gov NOT .com

1. Why Do You Want to Register (02:54)
2. Benefits of Registration (10:54)
   • you have the rights to your image
   • when you pass on, your estate inherits your rights
   • enables you to file a claim if someone uses your image without permission
3. What Are Your Copyrights? (06:50)
   • control over reproduction of your work
   • you can license your image for use DO NOT sell them
   • right of derivative (you have the right to make changes to your work)
4. Right of Distribution (06:35)
   • you decide where your work appears example: billboards, ads
   • right of display example: only in color, black and white, cropped or uncropped
   • the right to say NO if you don’t want the image to be viewed
5. Rights with your Registration (07:56)
   • the right to sue if your rights are violated
   • compensatory damages (the amount you would have charged)
   • statutory damages (court awards an amount)
6. Rights with your Registration, Part 2 (08:58)
   • having your lawyer fees covered
   • you may order an injunction
   • leverage
7. Starting the Registration Process (02:23)
   • don’t send the full size image to the copyright office
   • resize your image to a small jpg (about 700px by 700px with 5 compression) that could be presented in court
8. Registration Process Step by Step (05:53)
   • you can send the unedited version of the image (any retouching would be covered as a derivative)
   • make sure you have your copyright information in the meta data (use lightroom or photoshop)
   • http://www.copyright.gov
9. Copyright (11:02)
   • visiting the copyright web site gives you a wealth of information
   • Firefox user need to change tab settings to accept new pages open new windows
   • Safari web browser doesn’t work
   • use the web sites back and forward buttons not the browsers
   • electronic copyright takes about 3 months to receive your certificate
   • images are recognized as copyright the day you upload them
10. Registering a New Claim (10:26)
    • register your work as visual arts
    • give a reasonable title relation to the work
    • select unpublished if it’s on your web site or has been shown then published
    • narrow your registration to the same year, month or quarter
    • copyright your photos in your name but check with your account for their opinion
11. Limits to Claim (06:13)
    • click next button don’t limit your work
    • rights and permission should be all about you
    • corespondent again should be you
    • DO NOT click anything in “special handling” unless you talk to your lawyer
12. New Claim Certification (07:54)
    • first process will take awhile once you get use to it, it should take about 5 minutes
    • review your application, once you click submit, it’s a legal document and can’t be changed
13. Registering a New Claim After your Payment (05:00)
    • accept an email confirmation
    • don’t click done until you upload your images
    • upload a zip file of your images
    • limited to 30 minutes per upload you can have more than one upload
14. Wrap Up (01:46)
    • MYTHS that are NOT true
    • • if you put your photo in an envelop and mail to yourself it’s copyrighted
      • if you change a percentage of a photograph or art it because yours
      • you can use an image as long as you don’t make a profit from it
    • copyright your work!

I hope this gave you insight on copyrighting your work. I encourage you to watch the video if not for the knowledge, but for the shear entertaining value of Jack and Ed!

The Legal side of Photography

I’ve been researching the legal side of photography for the past few weeks. I know, as photographers this isn’t our favorite subject but it’s a duty we have to do to protect ourselves and our work. After watching Jack Reznicki and Ed Greenberg on Kelbytraining.com, I checked out their new web site, The Copyright Zone“. Their free advice and inside knowledge on legal matters makes it an instant bookmark!

Remember Benjamin Franklin old saying “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”!

Model Release Form

As we approach a new year, I scurried to complete my 2009 “Lessons to Learn” list. Today I watched world class photographer Jack Reznicki and New York-based Intellectual Property Attorney Ed Greenberg talk about the importance of Model Release forms on Kelby Training.com. The chemistry these two have keeps you entertained as they bust some of the myths photographers have about model release forms. Ed’s stories amplifies pitfalls from not having a signed release as Jack gives the photographer’s point of view. The online class also includes forms you can download.

In short:

• You ALWAYS need a model release form.
• Complete the form, leave no blanks.
• Laws change from state to state, know your state law.
• Have a witness sign (preferable someone with no vested interested)
• A new release needs to be signed for each shoot.
• Get a copy of the model’s driver’s licenses.
• Give a copy to the model
• Keep your signed copy FOREVER.