Instructions for Submitting a Group of Published Images
You must meet the all following requirements to group-register published images:
The images must all have been published within the same calendar year.
All the works must have the same copyright claimant. (The “claimant” is often the photographer, but it might be an agent. For a transfer registration, it would be the recipient of the copyright.)
All the photographs are by the same photographer. If an employer for hire is named as author, only one photographer’s work may be included.
You will need a Form VA and, optionally, the Continuation form, Form GR/PPh/CON. (See this note regarding the choice to use the Continuation Forms or not.) For tutorial purposes, you may use our annotated form VA and our annotated Form GR/PPh/CON; but for an actual filing, we always recommend getting the latest version from the Copyright Office. If you have Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader, you can type directly into the forms and print out the result. If not, you must print the blank form and type or write on the hard copy. (Either way, be sure your printer is set up so the two pages of the form are printed as front and back of one sheet of paper, correctly aligned top-to-top.)
Step by Step Instructions for Form VA
Section 1
- The Title should be something like (make sure you customize the information in green):
Published Photos of Joe Photo, Photographer Volume 1 from 2003
Nature of Works: Photographs
Previous or Alternate Title: Group Registration of 250 Published Photos
Section 2
Author: Fill in your full name and the year you were born.
If this isn’t a work for hire, check No
Fill in your nationality and check No in the Anonymous and Pseudonymous boxes (usually).
Check Photograph
Section 3a
Give the calendar year in which you completed the most recent photograph you are registering at this time.
If in doubt, read our instructions for determining when something has been published.
If all images were published on the same date: give the date of publication (month, day, and year) and the nation where publication first took place. In this case, you may complete a Form GR/PPh/CON to list the individual titles in the group and to describe each photograph, but you do not have to give the publication date either on the continuation sheet or on the deposited images.
If all images were published on different dates within the same calendar year: you must give the range of publication dates in space 3B (for example: January 1 - December 31, 2003) and also give the individual publication date of each photo, either as a separate entry on Form GR/PPh/CON or on each image deposited.
Section 4
Put your name and address here. Leave Transfer blank.
Section 5
Check No if this is the first registration for these images.
Section 7b
Put your name, address, phone, fax and E-mail address here.
Section 8 & 9
Check to confirm that you are the author. Fill out your name below and include your mailing address. (Whether you use the computer to fill in the form or not, you must always sign the form by hand.)
Since you are doing a group registration of published photos, you may wish to continue with Form GR/PPh/CON. Read the instructions for the form and also see this note regarding the choice to use the Continuation Forms or not.
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