Published or Unpublished: Why Does it Really Matter Anyway?

There are very few photographers, if any, who would rather be thinking about the mechanics of registering their images with the Copyright Office than being in the studio or out on location shooting new images. After all, what rouses you from your bed every morning is the excitement of capturing that next perfect image, whatever the subject. But as we photo attorneys have been preaching from our soapboxes for many years to every photographer within earshot, registering your images is tantamount to ensuring that your children are properly locked into their car seats before you ever leave the driveway. That is to say, the most effective way for a professional photographer to fully protect his vital assets (his images) is to register the images with the Copyright Office and watermark every image with a proper copyright notice. If you take these two steps to protect your images, you will enjoy all of the protections copyright law affords; moreover, you will have the full force of copyright law behind you should you ever suffer an infringement. There simply is no question that registration is an absolute necessity.