Applying for copyright for my photographs

Hi,

I am creating a personal website with my photo albums, I would like to copyright my photographs.

For people who got copyrights, did you folks apply from www.copyright.gov ?

I am looking at this link, http://www.copyright.gov/register/visual.html, I am not sure if its the right type of copyright.

Could someone let me know whats the right way to deal with it.

Thanks,
LS

you automatically get a copyright by taking the photos. Watermarking is the way to go because they show people who created it. If you post a notice on your site that the images are copyright and not for use without permission, and you find someone using them, you have rights as the creator of the pictures to get them to stop using your pictures or provide you with compensation.

Registering copyright is a good method of having irrefutable proof that the photos are yours. This is an excellent idea if you have plans of selling your work as individual or a whole, especially if you have printed material.

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl107.html

Now for the web, if you put "Copyright &copy Your Name (or business name)" then it is recognized through most international agreements. (You must have both the word and symbol on your photos, not just your site.)However that is only the case with those contries who have signed with international copyright regulations (laws) and may not apply to those places which do not recogized the international copyright agreement.

Inherently the originator of the idea (written or photograph) has copyright. The problem comes in if someone else claims the copyright of your photos. By having such things registered gives you the proof that you are indeed the copyright holder of the original material and can claim damages (if applicable) from the other party.

The "poor man's copyright" is to snail mail a copy of the photos or written text to yourself. Once you receive it do not open it the post office stamped date is what you require for "proof". If by chance you need to defend yourself against a copyright infringement case then you can have a Judge of the case open the said envelope. But this is not 100% recognized and does not guarantee your copyrights.

If it is on the net people will steal it. That is the nature of the internet, can't be helped even if you put all the anti-leech and right click methods on your site people will get a download copy if they really want to. Most methods to prevent this type of thing may actually drive away real customers so use with caution. The best thing you can do is to watermark your photos with your actual copyright, and if you are a real stickler it would be best to watermark before uploading to the net and not to rely on net scripts to do the work for you.

So it is a choice of what level you want to have copyright. Just remember for every photo or group of photos you want officially copyrighted you must refile with the Gov and pay that fee everytime. It can get quite expenisve for just personal photos.

I hope this gives you more info to make your decision.

=)
Jade