Copyright Myths Debunked

 

There’s a lot of misunderstanding on US Copyright Laws. The artlaw Blog has a great write-up debunking many myths about copyright, which interests me as a photographer and a writer.

Some common myths:

• Myth 2: Copyright protection requires registering your work with the Copyright Office in Washington, D.C.
• Myth 3: Placing the work in an envelope and mailing it to yourself has the same effect as registering it with the Copyright Office.
• Myth 4: If it's on the Web, it's free for the taking.

 

Good information in the article.

Does this mean that you can go to court if your copyright has been violated and your work has been copied? Not so fast. Lawsuits are expensive, so in practice for most of us if you post your photo on the net, make sure you post a low resolution, watermarked or stamped photo, unless you do not care what happens to the work afterwards. The laws, although there, do not afford any “protection “ to the little guy due to the high cost of prosecuting the claim (disclaimer: I am not a lawyer so in case you have been subject to a copyright violation or just outright stealing of your work, please consult an attorney).

 

For the US, the info is at http://www.copyright.gov/. The basics are covered in this PDF document.

From Page 7 of the Basics:

Copyright Registration

In general, copyright registration is a legal formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright. However, registration is not a condition of copyright protection. Even though registration is not a requirement for protection, the copyright law provides several inducements or advantages to encourage copyright owners to make registration. Among these advantages are the following:

• Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim.
• Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin.
• If made before or within five years of publication, registration will establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate.
• If registration is made within three months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney’s fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner.

 

The key is to register your work. Why? Because if you do, you are eligible for statutory damages as opposed to actual damages (if any or if you have a problem with proving actual damages).

 

A couple of important points that need stressing are:

• You cannot go to court unless you have registered your work (IOW, your work is protected at creation but you can’t sue in US Court unless you registered and paid the fee). When to register? You have up to 90 days from the moment the copyright violation occurred (as opposed to the time the work was created).
• You have to sue in US Federal Court. You cannot go to small claims court for copyright issues.

If you are interested in collection of damages, more information can be found at Cornell University Law School.

Related to these legal themes, including the all important issue of where and what you can shoot from a public street, Photoshop User TV has a nice video interview with Ed Greenberg (Intellectual Property Attorney) . Copyright issues are dealt with in Part II.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4czzNOPbJWk - Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGZ_pJQ-_EU - Part II

 

 

(Thanks Julien and Wayne!)