Vlog: Tips & Tricks On How To Copyright Your Photos

After my first vlog, you all expressed a lot of interest in copyright registration. If you have danced around registering your work or have been confused by the application process, this is the video for you.

In this video, I share my registration process and several tips to streamline the registration process. This video is specific to the US Copyright Office since that is the nation where I register my photos. This is a long video! Here is a breakdown of the main topics covered in this video:

  1. Grouping photos for registration (2:08)
  2. Staying organized and using your asset manager to track registrations (6:42)
  3. Tips and tricks for the registration application (10:50)
  4. Finding infringements (19:30)

In the video, I stress the importance of title formatting. Here are the details:

Group Title

  • Format: “Group Registration of (Un)Published Photos, Published START_DATE to END_DATE; ## photos”
  • Notes:
    • The date format is Mmm., DD, YYYY
    • Commas and semi-colons matter!
  • Example: "Group Registration of Published Photos, Published Jan. 1, 2017 to Mar. 7, 2017; 59 photos"

Content Title

  • Format: "PHOTO_TITLE, PUBLISH_DATE;"
  • Notes:
    • The date format is Mmm., DD, YYYY (only meaningful for published works)
    • Commas and semi-colons matter!
  • Example: "Scott-Davenport-Beautiful-Photo.psd, Feb. 2, 2018;"

Lastly, also check out this excellent video from FStoppers on copyright. It's a great watch. This video has amazing stories about infringement and other reasons you want to register your photos.