Sites to help you copyright your Images and Footage

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Published vs. Unpublished: This is an important distinction to make when filing your copyright submissions.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For Unpublished Works: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.

College Groups Fighting Copyright

The New York Times today reported that the Recording Industry Association of America has got a new thorn in their side and this time its popping up at college campus near you. A group called Students for Free Culture is advocating looser copyright law restrictions and free information exchange over the Internet on P2P networks. The group has chapters at more than 35 colleges across the country. The group was established at Swarthmore College in 2004.

"We will listen to free music, look at free art, watch free film and read free books," reads the manifesto from its Web site, freeculture.org. "We refuse to accept a future of digital feudalism."

While it's true that the Internet has caused us to reexamine the copyright laws that have been in place for decades and didn't take into account our digital world, it's still a very gray area and one that still has repercussions if you trample over copyright laws. These reprecussions are creating a stir and causing students to unite and fight what they think is an injustice. The Times reported that "Members of the Students for Free Culture talk about the group’s goals with something like the reverence that earlier generations displayed in talking about social or racial equality." Whether it is the same is debatable but we are sure that finding the right balance on this issue will be battled out in the courtrooms and classrooms over the coming decades.

Legally using images and videos in your blog

Copyright issues and clearing rights are so important to creating an ethical and secure marketplace. We have covered in previous blog posts what is Fair Use and understanding copyright laws better which you can find here. But that line can sometimes be gray so how do you know what is Fair Use and what can get you in deep water?

From the PACA website:

"Fair Use" doctrine allows limited copying of copyrighted works for educational and research purposes. The copyright law provides that reproduction "for purposes such as criticism, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research" is not an infringement of copyright.

This is a defense to infringement and is limited in scope. We had an interesting conversation with Adam Eland from WallStrip about this type of usage. If how you are using someone else's work qualifies as fair use, it will be decided by the courts, which balances various factors, and is decided on a case by case basis: This is where it can get gray. Guidelines are more commonplace than concrete rules, which is what can make things confusing for people that are not copyright lawyers. Here are some helpful guidelines:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
2. the nature of the copyrighted work; factual or more artistic
3. the amount and substance of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

So remember, when you are using someone else's work always be mindful of how you are using it and please give credit where credit is due. Just a simple shout-out on your page or link back to the author's page. It's only fair.

Creators of Content- Listen up for Copyright Clarification

PACA or to those that don't know the Picture Archive Council of America has produced a PowerPoint presentation which provides a ton of very valuable information regarding copyright law in the US and how it applies to the use of imagery in advertising, the news media and fine art. You can download the presentation here on it's website and is a must review for all creators and users of photography.

Topics that are covered range from what copyright protects and the length of the protection, as well as highlight such topics as fair use, what is an infringement and what is not, and explains how the Digital Millennium Copyright Act can be used to remove infringing works from the Internet. A Must Read.

You will find answers for:

* When do you acquire copyright protection?
* What is and isn't protected?
* What rights does the owner control?
* How long does copyright protection last?
* How to define Public Domain?
* Is copyright notice needed?
* Who owns copyright?
* Can copyright be transferred?
* Limitations on owner's rights
* Definition of Fair Use?
* Why should you worry about copyright?
* Who is responsible?


A lot of the terms that they are trying to clarify in the presentation have gray areas and multiple meanings depending on who you speak to. Nancy Wolff, PACA’s legal counsel and an expert on copyright law, was the creator of the PowerPoint presentation but she came up with all the language to help others understand the terms and usages for us non lawyer types. I'd be interested to hear what others say about how she defines terms and the case studies she picks. These are all very hard terms to define and pinpoint.

If you have a bit of free time and want to learn more about Copyright and topics related this is a good use of your time.

Thank you Sir. May I have another?

These copyright infringement suits that are nipping at Youtube's feet keep popping up and this time Apple may get dragged into the fight. As many of you may know, Apple's iPhone will carry YouTube videos, which funny enough were selected by YouTube and made available for iPhone users to view on their devices.

How well thought out was the selection of videos that were made available to the iPhone? Turns out that a small number of the 10,000 videos made available were illegally uploaded by someone other than the copyright holder and now threatens to put Apple in the same legal hot water as YouTube. Examples include a clip of Thierry Henry, a French football player, clips from Adult Swim, the comedy channel operated by Turner Broadcasting and clips of OJ Simpson's getaway Bronco chase.

While Apple probably never thought it would be trafficking in bootlegged content with the likes of YouTube, it now has to worry that the content being displayed on it's devices don't infringe on other's copyright.

So who is liable? What has the Internet done to issues in copyright? And more importantly who is going to have to pay out the money to settle this infringements?

I'm highly skeptical that Apple will be found liable but its an embarrassing mess that they are going to have to deal with in the future.