Copyright Registration Example:

Photographs published in Stock Photography Catalog, 1998

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Background: The bulk of my images in the National Geographic Images Sales catalog are ones that had never been published before. These make a very easy group submission.

You might think that images that are included in a stock catalog are covered by the registration of the collective work (catalog) itself. Unfortunately, the images do not receive the protection of Copyright Registration unless the applicant is the Copyright holder. For images like mine, that I own wholly, I must be the applicant.

This is the kind of work that should be first on your list of backlog registrations to accomplish.

Eligibility: All images that were not previously published are eligible for a simple Short Form VA submission. The several previously published images of mine that do appear in the catalog were published in another year, and therefore may not be included in this submission.

Deposit Formats:

Preparation of Deposit: Pictured below are the formats we recommend for Copyright Registration Deposits. There are several other formats that the copyright office accepts, but these are the ones that we think fit into the typical photographer's workflow:

Actual Tearsheets: Simply cut the tearsheets out, indicate which images are yours (if there is no indication in the original layout) and submit.

Print Film Copies: We find that print film is the second easiest way to prepare a submission. It's pretty cheap, very fast to do, and can generate duplicate copies for your files.

Copies of Tearsheets: You can photocopy the images and use that as a submission. Regulations state that if the original is in color, the deposit must be in color, so you must use color laser/inkjet copies. We find that his makes color copies uneconomical if the submission will run to a total of more than about 20 pages.

Scans/Digital Camera Copies: The copyright office tells us that there are many submissions coming in on CD with no printout. We advise against this.

The length of the copyright is defined as the lifetime of the author, plus 70 years. While the lifespan of a CDR is unknown, it is almost certainly less than the duration of the copyright. While print film, or laser copies, or epson prints may not look beautiful in 60 or 80 years, we believe that there is likely to be a recognizable image there.

We find that it is much faster to re-photograph with a digital camera than to scan with a desktop scanner. In either case, once you have made the copies/scans, you need to put them in proper format.

To submit on CD-ROM, save the files as jpegs and put in a folder, then burn to CD. Because of longevity concerns with CD-ROM, we suggest that you include a laser copy of the images with the Deposit. Alternately, you could simply print out the images with a color printer and submit those without the CD.

Photoshop 6 and higher includes an improved contact sheet function, which can help in this format of submission. You can use it to make a laser printed hard copy to accompany submission, or to make a color hard copy to be the principal Deposit document. Of course, if the original photograph is in Black and White, the B&W laser is fine.

Forms: We suggest the short Form VA for most submission. When necessary, use the Group Registration Form.