Copyright fees raised May 1, 2014

[ddindy]

I've been registering my photos with the U.S. Copyright office for a couple of years now. For all of that time, the cost was $35 per batch. Effective May 1, 2014, the price went up to $55. For me, that means fewer and larger batches. Since I don't post anything that I haven't registered, it may mean a delay before you see my wonderful (ha!) photos.

And for those of you who don't know, any work of art (i.e. a photograph) is automatically copyrighted by the owner at the moment of its creation. However, if you ever need to sue someone for stealing, copying or using that work of art without your permission, your chances of receiving damages are pretty small unless you've registered the image with the Copyright office. See a recent discussion on watermarks for some useful information.

 

[mSummers]

I was disappointed that they raised the fees as I also register all of my images prior to publishing. The easiest solution and the one I've always taken is to register and upload the images to the Copyright Office prior to putting them anywhere on the internet or in print form of any kind, but this fee change may force me to look into taking advantage of the three month grace period after publication, during which you can still register the images as unpublished. Jack Reznicki of The Copyright Guys has frequently stated that he uploads all of his images at the end of each quarter, keeping all of his images within the grace period.

Just a minor point of clarification: Failure to register your images prior to infringement does not result in reduced changes of receiving damages, it only limits the damages you can pursue to "actual damages" which you have to prove based on prior images licenses. Obtaining registration with the Copyright Office is called the "keys to the courthouse" because it adds statutory damages and attorney's fees to the actual damages you're already eligible for. Those two are the key because the statutory damages can range from $750 to $30,000 for each infringing copy, unless you can prove that the infringement was committed willfully which gives the court the option to increase the statutory damages to up to $150,000 per infringing copy. More information here and here.

Edit: After further thought, failing to register prior to infringement does indirectly result in a reduced chance of receiving damages due to the actual damages being too low to make it worthwhile to pursue legal action.