How to Copyright Photos: What Is Copyright Protection?

Copyright protects a creator’s original work in mediums ranging from literature, drama, and music to art, architecture, and computer code. Examples include photography, novels, poetry, song lyrics, musical composition, movies, still images, paintings, sculptural work, computer software, and architecture. US copyright law covers both published and unpublished works in any tangible form.

The intended use of copyright law is to stop other parties from copying or using creative work without the copyright owner’s permission. Copyright protection grants the owner exclusive rights to use your image or other copyrighted work without fearing infringers will use your images for personal or monetary gain.

Copyright ownership belongs to the creator in any medium. Image copyright (or copyright for any other type of creative work) begins as soon as you create it. According to US law, you have copyrighted your creative works the moment you create them in a tangible form. You do not need to register the image with the United States Copyright Office to obtain copyright protection.

This automatic copyright protection (which extends the copyright holder’s legal protection internationally) is part of the Berne Convention. Worldwide, 177 countries enforce the international copyright law. According to the law, you do not need to have a registered copyright or use the copyright symbol alongside your work in order to claim copyrights on your artistic work.

For those who want to file an application for copyright registration, you can complete the registration process online at the US Copyright Office website.

While you own the copyright to your original works without formally registering the work, there are advantages to filing an application with the US Copyright Office, including:

• Record of copyright: Filing an application for copyright registration creates an official government record of your copyright ownership. This becomes important if you find unauthorized use of your work and you need to take legal action.
• Increased legal options: You must register your copyright if you want to file a copyright claim for infringement.
• Statutory damages awards: If you are successful in your copyright infringement lawsuit, there are some monetary awards only available to those who have a copyright registration on file with the US Copyright Office. You can only recoup attorneys’ fees and court fees (known as statutory damages) as part of the ruling if you have a registered copyright. You are also able to recover the money without having to prove the cost of the actual damages.

Fair use is the right for the public to use unlicensed copyright-protected works, such as copyrighted images, in certain circumstances, especially as it relates to free expression, criticism, and education.

Fair use of copyrighted works does not include the copying or distributing of a copyrighted image or other copyrighted work. When it comes to derivative works (such as music samples used without permission or the use of Photoshop to alter an image), this is a gray area in the legal world. The courts have allowed some derivative work, while they have called other work a copyright infringement.

If you find unauthorized use of your creative work, there are steps you can take to have your images removed:

1. 1. Confirm you own the copyright. Confirm that your intellectual property is being used without your permission.
2. 2. Make a personal request. Contact the party with a copyright notice and request they remove your image or pay a licensing fee in accordance with the US Copyright Act.
3. 3. Send a cease and desist letter. If they do not respond, you can send a letter known as a cease and desist. You can do so with or without a lawyer.
4. 4. File a takedown notice. If the person who is violating your copyright ignores the cease and desist letter, you can seek copyright protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). To do so, you must file a DMCA takedown request. Under the DMCA, an Internet Service Provider must remove any material that violates a copyright.
5. 5. Seek legal advice. Consult a lawyer to understand if legal proceedings are necessary.

Poor man’s copyright is a widely held belief that if you mail yourself your creative work (such as pages of a manuscript or an image) you will automatically have copyright protection once you receive the letter back with a postmark. There are two reasons behind this belief. The first is that the postmark, date, and address prove the creative work is yours. The second is that it addresses the need for the creative work to be in a tangible form (since you cannot copyright an idea).

However, poor man’s copyright (the act of mailing yourself your work) will not grant you any legal protection beyond what you already have by simply creating it. This is because you must file for copyright (with the US government) before you can sue for copyright infringement.

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