Black Star Rising reader Richard Cave sent us the following question:
Being a U.K. freelancer, if I as a U.K. resident put my pictures on the Web, do I need to register my images with the U.S. Copyright Office? The reason I ask is that we are no longer local, but now global.
Good question, Richard. Most countries offer protection to foreign works under certain conditions that have been greatly simplified by international copyright treaties and conventions.
Both the U.S. and U.K. are members of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Under the Berne Convention, which the U.S. joined in 1989, photographers are not required to include a copyright notice (e.g., © 2006 John Doe) with their images. This is because the Berne Convention prohibits formal requirements that affect the “exercise and enjoyment” of the copyright.
U.S. law, however, still provides certain advantages for use of a copyright notice. For example, the use of a notice can defeat a defense of “innocent infringement.”
If your photos are taken in a country that is a signatory to the Berne Convention, you do not have to register your photos with the U.S. Copyright Office before filing a lawsuit in the U.S. for copyright infringement.
Benefits of Registering
Practically speaking, photographers in the U.K. and other countries may still wish to register their photos in the U.S., however.
The reason is that when a copyright is registered either before infringement or within three months of first publication, the photographer becomes entitled to statutory damages. This can significantly impact the viability of filing suit.
When you are not eligible for statutory damages, you may recover only “actual damages” for the infringement. Courts usually calculate actual damages based on your normal license fees and/or industry standard licensing fees. You also may recover the profits the infringer made from the infringement, if they aren’t too speculative.
By contrast, when you are entitled to statutory damages, you may be awarded up to $150,000 per work for willful infringements. Legal fees and costs also may be recovered from the infringer.
Because lawyers and lawsuits are expensive, it rarely is worth filing a lawsuit when you are eligible only for actual damages. It dramatically increases the incentive to pursue an infringement when statutory damages are available.
If your photos are first published in the United States or in a country with which the U.S. has a copyright treaty, they may be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Also, if you are a citizen of or reside in a country that has a copyright treaty with the U.S., then you can register your photos with the U.S. Copyright Office.
In general, a photographer who desires copyright protection for his or her images in a particular country should first determine the extent of protection available to works of foreign authors in that country. If possible, this should be done before the work is published anywhere, because protection may depend on the facts existing at the time of first publication.
All unpublished photos, regardless of the nationality of the photographer, are protected in the United States. However, there are some countries that offer little or no copyright protection to any foreign works.
Check with an attorney to learn the best way to protect your work and to discuss your options when you are infringed.
February 4th, 2010 at 2:15 am
Great article - very useful info.
So I register everything with the copyright office and am domiciled in the US (and am a US citizen). There's a company out of eastern europe who's been stealing images and selling them through a membership based web forum. Do you know if there's any way of recourse for international copyright infringements? I had talked to a few other photographers who thought it was pointless to try and go after anyone internationally b/c it would be cost prohibitive and all.
Thanks for being such a great resource to the photographic community!
February 4th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
check to see if it is an EU member--if so it should be possible to take the problem to EU court.
February 4th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Thanks for that - now that I looked at the DNS again it seems to be registered in AZ but I think it's just a front - am contacting a local lawyer to see what they might say since I haven't talked directly with legal counsel although many of the other photographers I have talked to about this same website/issue have. Will see what happens!
February 4th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
check the reverse look-up for site registration. It might help, it might not. If the site is registered on US side, you can always file a letter of complaint with the State Attorney if you provide some proof, such as your low res images and contract agencies. I think that you can also file complaint with the service provider who can cut the mains, but this doesn't usually work because such people jump to other sites. The problem is that they jump to sites that protect shady businesses like godaddy.
If the person poaching is in Czech Republic, try to find assistance through European Court. Czech court is for nothing.
I am pogomcl across the internet. I am on LinkedIn with pogomcl. LinkedIn has good resources and support for photographers and several copyright forums where you can pose questions such as this and expect good responses. I received 3 contracts through sample images posted under my profile in LinkedIn.
http://cz.linkedin.com/in/pogomcl
It is good networking tool.
February 4th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Thanks Mary, it looks like ultimately it may be in Serbia although registered through something in Arizona. Will try and update if things move forward with this...
February 4th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
join LinkedIn-- seriously. There are several copyright groups where you might find good advice and support. just look under my profile for leads. Send me an connection invite and I accept.
February 5th, 2010 at 4:59 am
As a part-time stock photographer based in Australia, this has been a dilemma of mine for a long time.
Say I did register with the US copyright people, how would I then go about with the practicalities of dealing with any infringement? Is it possible to hire a lawyer by email? How would I check out that a US lawyer is competent in this particular area?
Does anyone from outside the US have experience of following through in this way? Or would it be prohibitively expensive up-front (in time as well as money)?
[I have to hope that other countries don't follow the US lead here, because registration fees times several countries could eat significantly into my profit margin!]
February 9th, 2010 at 7:48 am
My question is that is it publishing my photos if I post them on my blog or my Flick account. Other question is that I'm residents of Finland and I'm going to travel to USA next summer does place where pictures are taken change any way my standing in this issue. What I mean is that is it more important to register photos taken at USA than in other EU?
March 1st, 2010 at 4:45 am
In the UK, the Government is attempting to get an orphan works clause through in their forthcoming Digital Economy Bill, regardless of Berne. Any US photographer could expect one of their images being metadata stripped - by accident of course! - and being designated as an orphan work. See http://copyrightaction.com/node
The UK wants to abolish copyright for everyone it seems, far too inconvienent for publishers.