Step by Step Instructions for Form VA for One or More Unpublished Images

To register any number of unpublished images, use Form VA.

The PDF of Form VA, available for download from the Copyright Office web site, has interactive features. Using Adobe Reader or Acrobat, you can type directly into the fields to enter your data — except for the signature, which must always be hand-written — or you can simply print out the form and write or type your information using black ink. (Either way, be sure the two pages of the form are printed as front and back of one sheet of paper, correctly aligned top-to-top.)

To make a deposit, you must first create one copy of every image to be registered. You may create a contact sheet of images, make digital scans of transparencies or prints, or create video captures of still images. Further information about the process for creating this “deposit” or copy of your work can be found in the tutorial section on meeting the deposit requirement.

Since you can register an unlimited number of unpublished images, regardless of how long ago they were taken, on one form for one fee, it is most practical to gather up every image that has not been published and register it now.

After you have created the deposit, count the number of images that you are submitting and proceed to fill out Form VA. (For tutorial purposes, you may use our annotated form; but for an actual filing, we always recommend getting the latest version from the Copyright Office.)

Step by Step: Filling Out Form VA

Section 1

The Title should be something like (make sure you customize the information in green):

Unpublished Photos of Joe Photo, Photographer Volume 1

Nature of Works: Photographs

Previous or Alternate Title: 250 Unpublished Photos

Section 2

Author: Fill in your full name and the year you were born. (If you use a pseudonym, the FAQ has advice on how to handle it.)

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.

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 6

Skip this section if all the images you are registering are completely original. A derivative work is one that builds upon an existing image (such as a composite of several items, or a digital alteration of a picture). For more discussion of this, see When is an image a “derivative work”? in this tutorial.

Section 7b

Put your name, address, phone, fax and E-mail address here.

Section 8 & 9

Check that you are the author. Fill out your name below, sign and include your mailing address.

Include a check for the proper amount (currently $45, but always double check with the Copyright Office web site). And, of course, keep copies of everything, just in case.

Next steps. That’s it for form VA. Next we have to get all the information to the Copyright Office.