Copyrights protect the authors of all creative forms of works
which can be presented in typical mediums, such as books, motion pictures, or
artwork. Essentially, the work needs to be presented in a tangible form.
Photographs are one of these art forms that are offered copyright protection.
A photographer’s work is always given protection the moment it
is created and should be marked with an accompanying ‘C’ logo and year of
creation to show that it has ownership. If the owner of the photograph would
like to give their work added protection, especially if legal disputes arise,
he or she can register a photograph with the United States Copyright Office.
Submitting Published and Unpublished Work
An author may submit single published and unpublished photographs, collections
of unpublished photographs, and photographs published as a unit, such as a
yearly calendar. The author should signify whether or not their work has
already been published.
Copyright law states that a publication is the distribution of
copies of a work to public sale or other transfer of ownership. If distribution
occurs to another group for purposes of further distribution, this is also a
publication. However, a public display of a work, such as a photograph, does
not necessarily make it a publication. Also, copyright law does not clearly
identify publication via online sources. It is left up to the author to
understand whether or not his or her work has been published.
Submission Methods
A photographer can choose to, for a one-time fee, submit one published
photograph, or submit a published collection of photographs. This can include a
collection on a calendar, illustrations for a book, or a set of football cards.
For unpublished photographs, a one-time fee can be used to file one photograph
or a collection of unpublished photographs. To be eligible for consideration,
the photograph(s) must be:
Neatly
compiled;
A
title for a collection of photographs must be created;
The
same party must be filing the claim for all photos submitted;
The
author must be the creator of the photographs.
It should be noted that published and unpublished photographs cannot
be combined in a copyright claim.
