Copyright Protection

[convoy71]

What is the name of your state? PA

Though I live in PA, the digital photos are being taken in state of NJ. I will be taking photos of a celebrities business (with full permission after offering free service website). Do I need to file a copyright on the photos to protect them on the internet. I will be locking the photos inplace so they cannot be copied or saved by anyone else.

Do I need to file a copyright on photos thru Library of Congress or simply place a "copyright 2007" on page.

 

[The Occultist]

Any photos you make will automatically be copyright to you. The copyright will only need to be registered if you wanted to sue somebody for infringement of that work. You can read more on this at www.copyright.gov.

Also, not legal advice, but there is nothing you can do to physically prevent somebody from copying your pictures from your website, no matter what kind of locks you think you can use. Assuming that you really have somehow found a way that would prevent copying the image itself to the clipboard, there is still the little problem called the "screenshot".

 

[divgradcurl]

The Occultist is correct -- you photos are protected automatically under copyright law as soon as they are taken. Further, a copyright notice is not required, and confers no additional protections.

That said, there are advantages to registering your copyrights. As The Occultist noted, you need to register your copyrights before you can enforce them (by suing for infringement) -- however, unless the copyrights are registered BEFORE the infringement begins, you cannot sue for "statutory damages." This could be the difference between making a lawsuit financially worthwhile or not -- in other words, a registered copyright may be more enforceable, from a financial standpoint, than an unregistered copyright.