Making Copyright Part of Your Workflow

[by Jim Cavanaugh]

Photographers often cite one of the barriers to regular copyright registration is assembling the submission of images. In the old film days, it was a significant challenge to get physical copies of all your work in an acceptable form for registration.

In today’s digital world it is much easier to assemble a registration, especially if you’re taking advantage of the Copyright Office’s electronic registration or eCO. All that is required for the majority of submissions is a small j-peg copy of each image you would like to register.

Creating these j-peg images as part of your regular assignment workflow will make timely registration much easier. Most Image processing software’s common automation features can be used on large numbers of RAW files or other formats to create the smaller j-peg files.

Here is what I do. On each assignment, I create a web gallery for my clients to review using Adobe Bridge CS4. This web gallery is created from the edited raw files that have had global color and exposure corrections made. Once the gallery is created, I simply copy the j-peg files from the web gallery folder (Resourcses-Images-Large) into my copyright registration folder. At the end of each month, I register all of the images in the copyright folder.

A special note, creating the flash based web galleries in Bridge CS4 deletes all metadata from the j-peg files. I have a copyright registration metadata template with my contact and copyright information that I apply to all of the images.

I’m Gonna Sue!

[by Jim Cavanaugh]

When I was a Chapter President, I would often get calls from angry members who found that one of their photographs had been infringed. They wanted the name of a copyright attorney so they could sue the infringer. I was always stunned when I asked about what the person said after they contacted them about the infringement. In virtually every case, I got the same answer, “Oh, I didn’t contact them, they used my photograph with out permission, I’m gonna sue them!”

Well, in 35 years as a working photographer, I’ve never been in a courtroom except to photograph it. I have made it 35 years without suing anyone. And I have had countless images infringed during the same time. I simply look at situation differently.

If someone “stole” one my images,  it seems to me that they liked my image or they would not have used it. Are they a potential new client? Can a negative be turned into a positive? Filing a law suit certainly will not let that happen.

Before you run to an attorney, contact the company and let them know that you are aware that they have used one of your copyrighted photographs without the required permission and payment and that you would like to resolve the situation fairly so that they may continue to use the image. And, perhaps license more in the future.

Registration ©ounts!

[by Susan Carr]

The copyright office tells us that only 5% of photographers register their images. ASMP wants to change that and this week at Photo Plus Expo ASMP will launch a new initiative called Registration ©ounts to create awareness of copyright issues, to encourage all photographers to register their work, and to provide the tools and information needed for registration.

Representatives from the copyright office will be at the ASMP booth (#478) to answer your registration questions. ASMP now offers recommended best practices for registering your work and a workshop to help photographers get registered.

ASMP has designated the week of April 19-23, 2010 to highlight the issue of copyright and will lead a number of activities and events for photographers and other visual artists. On Wednesday, April 21st, ASMP will host a symposium entitled The Current State of Copyright from an Artist’s Perspective to explore views on significant issues, challenges and trends in copyright. Experts from leading organizations including Columbia University, PLUS and Public Knowledge will participate.

Join with ASMP to create a powerful voice for the defense of copyright law.

Registering Your Copyright – Just Do It

While registering the copyright of your photos affords photographers a variety of benefits and protections, very few of us actually do it.  What most don’t seem to realize is that once you get into the regular habit of registering, its just not that big of a deal.  Registration should be like any other part of your business –  like sending out invoices, keeping business records, and paying taxes.  I’m pretty sure that most of us take care of the latter, but for some reason we get stuck on the former.

In all of my paperwork I include in the terms and conditions that usage rights are not conveyed until the invoice is paid in full.  On various occasions I have called up accounts payable (rather than the photo editor or art director who hired me), and asked about the invoice.  If they seemed disinterested in acting on it, I would mention that all the images were registered with the Library of Congress Copyright Office.  I then politely mentioned that rights are not conveyed until payment is received, and gee, we don’t want to get into a copyright dispute about this, do we?  That usually incentivizes them to pay promptly.

On one occasion some photos of mine that were in a stock agency were transferred in error to another agency who had purchased the first.  For three years the second agency had been licensing my work without bothering to pay me the fees.  A friend tipped me off that he’d seen my photos on the second agency’s site.  When I called to investigate, agency 2 very lamely claimed they hadn’t paid me because they didn’t have my current address (I haven’t moved in 18 years).  I requested an immediate accounting of the licensing sales, which they provided. It turned out the total was several thousand dollars.  They then claimed poverty and offered to pay me in drips and drabs over the next year or two.

I pointed out that I had never agreed to the transfer of my images to agency 2, that they were licensing my photos without my permission, and that all the photos were registered images.  When they heard the photos were registered, they fedexed me a check for the full amount the next day.  “Registration” was the magic word that made it happen quickly.

ASMP has a full copyright tutorial and a NEW Best Practices Guide for registering your work.

I strongly urge anyone who is not currently registering to make use of this resource.  And don’t be overwhelmed at the thought that you have to register a mountain of work all at once.  Start by registering the work you are currently doing from today forward, and then make it a habit.  You can go back and do your legacy images as you have time.  For me, I have a folder on my desktop labeled “ready for  © office.”  I simply make a low res copy of any image I produce at the time I download it.  In a program like Lightroom, Bridge, or Aperture its easy.  All you do is export a low res copy to that folder, and when you’re ready to make a submission the files are right there.  Don’t wait, start today.