Here is a short list of places you should visit to copyright your content. Doing this is an important step towards ownership and helps you out immensely in any court proceedings. You must take action to protect your work. In addition to protecting your work, when you register your copyright it becomes easier for a potential infringer to track you down and legitimately and legally obtain a license to use your work, thus avoiding the hassle of having to go to court.
Copyright Office Website:
http://www.copyright.gov
Copyright Submission Form For Visual Artists (Form VA):
http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formvai.pdf
Published vs. Unpublished: This is an important distinction to make when filing your copyright submissions.
For Published Works:
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl124.html
For Unpublished Works:
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl107.html
Quick Reference or Copyright Fact-Sheet Topics:
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/index.html#fl
Frequently Asked Copyright Questions:
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/
Email a Copyright Question to the Copyright Office:
http://www.copyright.gov/help/general-form.html
Online Submissions: Be on the lookout for the ability to file electronically. Online Beta Testing began summer 07′. Once the testing is complete, the system will be available to members of the general public.
Fees: The current Basic Filing fee is $45. The fee for online submissions will be $35 once the Beta Testing is complete.
Phone Assistance at Copyright Office About Submissions:
Phone: 202-707-5959
John Harrington has a step by step walk through of his experience copyrighting his work.
has anyone completed this process? I was thinking of using the CONTINUATION FORM for VA to submit as a collection, do I need to put the date that each photo was created – even if they are not published? or only put a date for the ones that were published? Any help is appreciated! Aloha ~april