A recent court decision in New York makes it more difficult to get a multiplier as damages for unauthorized uses unless the photographs were registered before the infringement.

It is extremely important that all photographers, regardless of their location, register their photographs with the US Copyright Office. It is easy to register them before publication, and there is also a way to register them after publication.

From the United States Copyright Office:
Claims to copyright in either published or unpublished photographs may be registered in the Copyright Office. Form VA should be used to apply for copyright registration for photographs.

To apply for registration, send the following material in the same envelope or package to the Library of Congress, Copyright Office, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20559-6000:
1. A correctly completed application form;
2. A $30 nonrefundable filing fee for each application; and
3. A nonreturnable deposit of the work to be registered.

Two or more unpublished photographs may be registered as a collection if:
1. The elements are assembled in an orderly form;
2. The combined elements bear a single title identifying the collection as a whole;
3. The copyright claimant in all of the elements and in the collection as a whole is the same; and
4. All of the elements are by the same author, or, if they are by different authors, at least one of the authors has contributed copyrightable authorship to each of the elements.
Published collections of photographs and all of the copyrightable elements of a unit of publication may be registered on a single form with a single fee if all of the photographs are owned by the same copyright claimant.

Registration of a collection of photographs extends to each copyrightable element in the collection. There is no limit to the number of photographs that may be included in an unpublished collection. See the Circular 40a, "Deposit Requirements for Registration of Claims to Copyright in Visual Arts Material," for further details.

GETTY IMAGES' SUGGESTED PLAN FOR REGISTRATION

Step 1: Unpublished Works
Send the copyright office groups of unpublished pictures by scanning the images and storing them on CD-ROM together with a form VA and $30 (check with copyright office for any price increases) before submitting to Getty Images so that they may be registered as unpublished works. Once they are uploaded to our website, they are considered published. www.copyright.gov/forms/formvai.pdf

Please note: While it can take up to 4 or 5 months for the certificate of registration to be returned to the photographer or filmmaker, the date of registration is the date the submission is received in the copyright office, or, if it held for a long time offsite (due to security screening of mail) then the postmark date will apply as the effective date of registration.


Step 2: Previously published works
This option applies to groups of works created by an individual photographer that are published within one calendar year.

Divide the photographs by years and register the published photographs in annual groups. You will need to refer to records as to the date of first publication (even if approximate). For current published photographs, register groups in 3 month increments.

Please click on the following link to the Form VA of Group Registration of Photographs: www.copyright.gov/forms/formgr_pph_con.pdf

One group is one registration.

The United States Copyright Office www.copyright.gov is an excellent source of information. Check out the FAQs at www.copyright.gov/help/faq