Synopses & Reviews
Copyright Workflow for Photographers: Protecting, Managing & Sharing Digital Images will help photographers build best practices for copyright registration and management into their existing image processing workflows using the popular Adobe® Creative Cloud™ software suite. Part legal manual, part software manual, the book will go beyond existing offerings in the “copyright for photographers” space by providing step-by-step guidance on protecting, managing, and enforcing intellectual property rights in their images using specific software tools.
Written by a photographer, who is also serves a senior policy advisor at the U.S. Copyright Office, there is no other resource better equipped to help photographers through this essential, yet hard-to-tackle, topic!
The book’s workflow approach capitalizes on widespread interest in the photography community in copyright protection and enforcement, enhancing digital workflows, and popular workflow software such as Lightroom®, Photoshop®, and Acrobat®.
This book is focused on U.S. copyright laws and requirements. Readers outside the U.S. may find it useful if they intend to register their images in the United States, or post images to websites based in the United States.
About the Author
Chris Reed is an experienced copyright lawyer and professional photographer specializing in intellectual property, antitrust, and communications law. He currently serves as the senior advisor for policy and special projects to the Register of Copyrights at the U.S. Copyright Office and also as acting chief of the Office’s Information & Records Division.
From 2007 to 2011 Chris served as an attorney in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked principally on matters relating to the entertainment and media industries. Chris received his B.S. (economics) from Lehigh University and he holds a J.D. and LL.M. (intellectual property) from the University of New Hampshire School of Law where he served as editor-in-chief of IDEA®: The Intellectual Property Law Review, and where he currently serves as an adjunct professor teaching advanced copyright courses as part of the school’s intellectual property master class curriculum.
Chris now lives in Los Angeles.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Copyright basics
• A very brief history of copyright law
• What copyright protects: fixation and originality
• The “bundle” of copyright’s exclusive rights
• Limitations and exceptions to the exclusive rights
• Infringement of the exclusive rights
• The registration requirement and why it matters
• “Selling” versus licensing (generally)
Chapter 2: Copyright in the digital economy
• The outdated nature of copyright law and the challenges for photographers
• The paradox of “getting it out there”
• The tragedy of the “right-click license”
• Metadata stripping and protecting yourself
• Websites and social media terms of service
• Balancing enforcement with exposure
Chapter 3: Foundations of copyright registration
• Copyright registration policy: the statutory quid pro quo
• Ideal registration workflow camera settings
• Importing images into Lightroom®
• Deciding how to register (single image; group; collection)
• Determining the publication status
• Gathering the information necessary to file a registration application
• Preparing the deposit copy
Chapter 4: Online registration using eCO
• Establishing an account on the Electronic Copyright Office (eCO) system
• Signing in and preparing a new application
• Application procedure for a single registration
• Application procedure for a basic registration
• Application procedure for registration of an unpublished collection
• Payment process using pay.gov
• Uploading the deposit
Chapter 5: Registration using paper forms
• Choosing the appropriate form
• Application procedure for group registration of published photographs
• Preparing the deposit copy
• Mailing instructions and traps for the unwary
Chapter 6: After applying for registration
• Handling questions or other correspondence from the Copyright Office
• Options for dealing with rejected applications
• Managing registration information after registration
• Updating the Lightroom® catalog
• Maintaining certificates of registration and record keeping generally
Chapter 7: Best practices for sharing and selling images
• Three steps to minimizing infringement: make it very easy to buy; a little bit difficult to steal; and a pleasure to work with you
• “Selling” versus “licensing” (reprise from chapter 1)
• Optimizing metadata
• Watermarking; disabling “right-click” functionality; blank image overlays
• Electronic commerce solutions for selling and licensing images
Chapter 8: Dealing with infringement
• Identifying infringements using web crawling and image recognition
• Issuing takedown notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
• Infringement litigation in general
• Alternatives to litigation
• When to hire a lawyer