Image Copyright Registration

Description

Protect your photos before someone else uses them

Almost every post about a man starts with a photograph, often screenshotted from a dating profile, cropped and posted somewhere he can’t see it.

If that photograph is properly registered, you may have a stronger route for dealing with unauthorized use.

This service registers your photographs with the US Copyright Office.

Which photos can be registered?

If you took the photo yourself, you generally own the copyright.

Selfies are straightforward.

If somebody else took the photograph, for example a friend or professional photographer, they may own the copyright.

Where necessary, a written copyright assignment is arranged before filing.

What you get

• registration of up to 10 photographs
• filing fees and paperwork handled
• written assignments where required
• registration certificate when issued
• plain-English explanation of what the registration means

Important notes

Copyright registrations are public records and may display your name as the owner.

Registration itself can also take months to complete, although the brief states that the protection dates from the filing date rather than the certificate arrival date.