How to Copyright

[Yomny]

I already went to the copyright website and i have a doubt in what the "Required deposit for registration" consists of. The information on their FAQ are a bit too elaborated and sort of complicate things, aside from the application, fee, i will need samples of pictures or exactly all the pictures i would like to copyright? Cani copyright negatives? Thanks and sorry if the questions are newbie. Thanks

[David Metsky]

You have already created the copyright on your photos the second you take them. What you are asking about is registering the copyright which makes it easier to enforce and collect damages.

I'll let others who've done this answer further.

-dave-

[nef]

Yes, that's right, Dave. As soon as a work is fixed in a medium, it is protected by copyright, although in order to file an infringement claim against someone, you need to have registered. You can register a copyright at any time, although you lose the ability to collect certain damages if you do not register within a certain period of time after creating a work--can't remember the time period offhand, but it should be easy to find.

[Yomny]

sounds good, so i'll just have to send in my photographs to copyright along with the rest of the required paperwor and fees and i think that should set me on the way. Thanks guys

[kornhauser]

Hey mind if I throw in another question?

How can you get the copyright symbol (c) to show up on Adobe? Can't seem to lock it down...

[David Metsky]

Just cut and paste it from here: ©

-dave-

[Yomny]

Is there a way to add yourcopyright symbol along with registered name or alias and year at the bottom of photographs? I've been doing it by simply inserting a text but i don't know if that's good enough. Is there anyway to do this more proffesionally and visible without having to switch the text color? Any adobe help? Thanks

[David Metsky]

You can easily do so in PhotoShop by using Batch Automate. I add my copyright notice on photos once I'm done processing them.

Again, you don't need to add a copyright notice to your photos, they are copyright as soon as you take them. The notice is more to let others know that if they reproduce your image then everyone will see. It gives you no more rights or recourse.

-dave-

[Yomny]

Can you elaborate more on the Batch Automate thing, do i have to purchase anything on the side. I do the same when it comes to adding the notice i do all the editing then i add the notice. I do it to let others know not to take advantage i know photographers here and otherwebsites respect others but i've been having a problem with a specific someone so i went ahead and added the notice. I just want to know if there's an easier way besides adding text. Thanks for your reply David.

[David Metsky]

Batch automate allows you to record your actions (adding the copyright notice) and then play it back for an entire folder of images. It's part of PhotoShop, you don't need to purchase anything. I don't know if this is in Elements. It's a one click operation to add the text to all your shots at once.

I put copyright notices on my images on the web as well. I do it for similar reasons that you do, ie, I know people will copy them and I want people to know that I took the shots. I have seen people recrop images to remove the copyright, it's a difficult battle to fight.

-dave-