Quote:
Originally Posted by E90 LCI
How do you register images? I take some nice pics with my DSLR and have had car pages take them so I started putting my instagram handle @____ on the pictures. Not sure if that counts as anything.
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https://eco.copyright.gov
ECO stands for Electronic Copyright Office. To be considered "Timely", you have to file within 90-days of "publishing" an image. I zip thumbnail sized images into a file and register a batch each quarter. ECO's system is archaic. They don't keep it updated for OS and browser changes, so instead of it taking five-minutes, it'll seems to always take hours.
One first step is to go into your camera's menu and make sure you got a copyright embedded in your EXIF. There's a menu item for that. Mine says, "All Rights Reserved - David C Stephens". If I remember correctly, removing that is $1,500. Replacing it with your own is another $1,500. It adds up fast.
Indicating copyright on the image is also a good idea. A big ole watermark across the middle of the image ruins it, IMO, and defeats the purpose of trying to share with friends. If you have a copyright on the face of your images, even down in the corner like I do mine, removing that shows "Intent" and "Willfulness", both of which puts you in a strong position under DCMA.
Here's an example of mine:
Smokey Morning by
David Stephens, on Flickr
It's easy enough to crop off, but doing so shows "Willful Intent" to Infringe. An ugly watermark is much harder to remove, but the degree of willfulness doesn't change.