Copyright registration & stock agencies

<p>I've searched for this topic and couldn't find any discussions about it. Should a photo be copyright registered with the US Copyright Office before being submitted to a stock/microstock agency? Thanks!</p>

<p>Absolutely. Not one single reason not to.</p>

<p>Possibly not being American would be a reason.</p>

<p>True that Steve. I assumed she was as she was asking about the US Copyright Office.</p>

<p>If you aren't an American, then register the copyright in your own country, I do believe the Bern Convention provides protection amongst the countries that are party to it.</p>

<p>In the US, registration is the demarcation point for getting the maximum rights protections and without it, you might still have a case, but no bite as it were. You have 3 months from the first publication of an image, and submitting to a stock agency would be considered as such, to register the image and have protection from the first date of publication. Otherwise, full benefits of copyright law protections/benefits only starts at the date of registration and any violation before that date would not be subject to some of the penalties and such.</p>

<p>Thanks for your responses. Yes, I am an American. I didn't want to dive into submitting images to stock agency(ies) before making sure I was protected. Thanks, John for your answer! I learn so much here on the forums.<br>

PS - I wrote the "US Copyright Office" to be specific in regards to registering since I know that once an image is taken, it's copyrighted but doesn't mean I have protections :)</p>

<p>Corbis claim they will register images for their contributors. However, there was a recent case that led to a massive invalidation of their registrations, as they didn't meet some technicalities. Conclusion: do not rely on anyone else to register images for you. Of course, skipping registration is not an option if you are serious about protecting your copyright.</p>

<p>Thanks so much! I'll be registering those images :)</p>

<blockquote>

<p>If you aren't an American, then register the copyright in your own country, I do believe the Bern Convention provides protection amongst the countries that are party to it.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Whilst there are companies in the UK which you can register your images with, there is not an official, government department to do this with. Registration in the UK (and probably most of the rest of the world) does not give the images any greater legal protection or status.</p>