How to Register and Copyright Photos

Registering your photographs brings added copyright protections.

Copyright protections are offered to any original work of authorship, including photographs. Although you do not need to register your photos with the United States Copyright Office to receive copyrights, registration is easy to do by taking the proper steps. You will need to submit your work and a registration fee to receive the additional protections afforded by copyright registration.

Things You'll Need

• United States Copyright Office Form CO
• Original photograph
• Registration fee

Instructions

1. Take an original picture. Your original photograph is already awarded copyrights the moment you take it. As long as your photo is an original work of authorship affixed or attached to a tangible medium, such as film or digital media, you have copyrights to the work.

2. Get the copyright registration form. You can register your photograph with the United States Copyright Office. Registration is not necessary, but it does provide additional legal protections against infringement. You first need to get the appropriate form from the Forms page of the U.S. Copyright Office Web site. You can use Form CO to register individual photographs, either through the mail or online. You can also contact the United States Copyright Office at their Washington D.C. location.

   U.S. Copyright Office
   101 Independence Ave. S.E.
   Washington, D.C. 20559-6000
   202-707-3000
   copyright.gov

3. Pay the fee and submit the form. When you file for copyright registration, you have to fill out Form CO, though you may need another form in special situations. The form requires you to include information such as the kind of work you are submitting, the title of the work, the date of any publication, the location of publication, your name and your contact information. You can send this in digitally, along with a copy of the photograph, or through the mail. In either case you must pay the registration fee, which as of 2010 is $35.

4. Include copyright notice. Although you do not have to include any notice of copyrights to protect your work, you can include them if you'd like. This is not necessary for either registered or unregistered copyrighted material.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider contacting an attorney. You should always contact a qualified attorney for any legal issue you have.

References

• U.S. Copyright Office: U.S. Copyright Office Forms
• U. S. Copyright Office: Form CO: Application for Copyright Registration