Copyright 101 for Photographers
Topic: Copyright
Time Investment: 7 Minutes
Suggested Product: BizRevamp®
Hey you — yeah, you! Have you ever thought about copyrighting your business assets?
You HAVEN’T?!?
We need to fix that. Let me tell you why.
WHAT YOU CAN COPYRIGHT
Under United States Copyright Law, anything that’s “fixed in a tangible medium of expression” can receive copyright protection. That’s a fancy way of saying things like books, photographs, computer programs, graphic design elements, written digital content, songs, videos, and more.
WHY YOU SHOULD REGISTER YOUR COPYRIGHTABLE MATERIAL
Defense Against Infringement
Although any created work gets minimal protections under US Copyright Law just by being created, you can really amp up your defense by registering with the US Copyright Office. Imagine someone copy and pasted your blog content onto theirs. That’s clearly infringing on your copyright! If you have a work’s registration filed prior to the infringement, you’re automatically eligible for payout by the infringer of up to $150,000, plus whatever profits they made off your work. not only that, but they’re even liable for paying any attorney’s fees you rack up in the process.
On the flip side, if you don’t have a registration, you are missing out on forcing an infringer to pay your legal fees and you can’t collect anything other than the “actual damages” your business received as a result of the infringement.
This might not seem like a big deal now, but it will pay dividends when someone infringes your work. That’s right – when. We see it happen all the time. So when it happens, registration will give you a much stronger position to defend your work and get the monetary compensation in the process.
Public Record of Ownership
Not only do you get more money in your pocket as a result of infringement, but copyright registration serves as a public record that you own a work. People can even use it to contact you about licensing if they want to use your registered material in compliance with your rights. Licensing is another opportunity to market your business and make some extra money.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Registering your brand assets protects you and increases the value of your business. It’s an essential part of being a business owner!
