About the author: Irene Rajagopal is a copyright lawyer, and the founder of PAPER Law Office PLLC. Based in Seattle, Irene helps clients complete the copyright registration at U.S. Copyright Office, conduct copyright clearance services, and draft/review various copyright licensing agreements. She can be reached at irene@irenerajlaw.com. Please feel free to click here to visit the website of PAPER Law Office PLLC (http://www.paperlawoffice.com).
by Irene Rajagopal, PAPER Law Office PLLC
Good news for photographers and image agents.
The U.S. Copyright Office issued the final rule "Group Registration of Photographs" (83 FR 2542) on January 18, 2018. This new rule allows batch copyright registrations of up to 750 photographs in one application for both published and unpublished photographs. The new rule will become effective on February 20, 2018.
The context of the final rule is linked here: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-01-18/pdf/2018-00687.pdf
Once the program is launched, the applicants will be able to file online applications and deposit photographs in a digital format. Meanwhile, the previous programs for "unpublished collection" and the "pilot program" for published photographs will be eliminated.
To be eligible for the group registration, all the photographs shall be created by the same author. However, the rule does not require the photographs to be taken by the same photographers, for example, in the work-for-hire cases. Furthermore, the it is not necessary that the publication shall occur in the same country.
For any further questions or if you need U.S. copyright registration services, please feel free to reach us. Our phone number is 206-357-8427.
Disclaimer and Copyright Notice: This blog post does not constitute any kind of legal advice. The author and PAPER Law Office PLLC will not guarantee the accuracy of the content. Please consult with your lawyer for any legal questions. The copyright of this blog post is exclusively owned by PAPER Law Office PLLC. Please do not reproduce or publish whole or part of this post without advance written consent from the right holder.