How to copyright photography? Follow

With digital photography becoming a marketing tool and a source of income for the photographers, then you should be looking at ensuring that the copyrighting of the photograph is done duly. This will ensure that the photographer is the sole recipient of any income generated through the photos for his lifetime. If you are a photographer, then you can ensure that your photos are not used for any commercial purpose without your knowledge and permission.

What is photography copyright?

Photographers who do not wish to share their images for free and who are looking for additional source of income using their photos commercially should look up the laws of copyright photography.

 The copyright is a way to ensure that no one uses your images and photos for commercial or income purposes without your permission. It ensures that the photographer (the person who presses the camera shutter) is the one who receives any benefit from the photo.

How to get the copyright?

It is quite simple to get your photography copyright. You can do this through the online website for the copyright office. You will have to fill in an application form first and then pay a fee for registering your photo for copyright. After that, upload your photographs and have them copyrighted electronically through digital image upload.

What you need to remember is that not to include published and unpublished photos in a single batch while registering for copyright. You have to separate them and register.  This is why it is advisable to get the copyrights issued immediately after the photos are taken, and editing is completed.

To ensure that you do not miss any image from getting copyrighted, you should add the process of obtaining copyrights as part of your photo processing workflow. As soon as you are done with the corrections and editing in the images, upload them in batches and get their copyrights immediately.

Other steps to keep your photo protected

While copyright ensures that your photos and your creative talent are protected, you can also use the below methods to deter people from stealing or using your images as their own.

•       Watermarks:  You can use watermarks as a deterrent from people using your images, but they do not have      absolute protection from plagiarism.
•       Advanced bar coding which acts as a traceable digital fingerprint.
•        Keeping the resolution low when uploading onto the internet.
•       Photo compression before upload.
•       Adding the copyright information to the metadata.
•       Read the terms of the websites carefully before uploading your photos onto them.

While the above steps can keep your photos safe, the absolute protection is offered only through copyrighting.