Protecting Images with the United States Copyright Office

by Quiana Jackson

Today many photographers have websites that house their most precious creations. For safety reasoning the right click option is unavailable just to ensure that their images aren’t floating around virtually and the photographer does not get credit for it. What many people do not know is the power of Copyrighting your images with the United States Copyright Office.

In the military we recognize the start of the new year in October and that is the beginning of our fiscal year such as FY/18. This is the time that I send all of the images that I created during previous year, in this case 2017 to the USCO to be registered as the creator and the sole owner of the work. In case that I see an image of mine floating in cyberspace I have proof that I am the owner.

There are other benefits for copyrighting work. It is for the life of the author plus seventy years after death. You can register one image or an unlimited amount of images all at one time.

So when you see the c symbol on an image that means copyright, if the photographer has not registered the work with the USCO then legally if they were to go to court, the timeframe wasted being buried in legal proceedings can be stressful. As a safety precaution, registering your creations with the USCO can cut down time drastically.

As with anything in life there is a fee. I believe it is less than $60. Once you register your work you will receive confirmation that it was registered along with a date given by the office. The processing time on the website says that it is 6-8 months but it is usually completed in 2 months.

If you are interested, please go to the website and look around and read all of the benefits yourself. I believe that it is a security net and beneficial to any creator of things worthy to be protected.

United States Copyright Office