Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Beginner's Questions => Topic started by: healeystudio on March 23, 2009, 07:30:48 pm
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I am not new to photography, but this seems to be such a basic question so I am posting it here. (maybe it is not so basic since I never thought about it until now )
What exactly is the publication date for a photograph? When the negative is processed? When the shutter is pressed? When the first print is made? When it is posted online? Used in advertisement? etc I am guessing the real answer may be complex due to new technology and old laws.
This is specific to copyrighting photographs.
I am organizing some of my old negatives that I didn't like so much when I first took them, but now with the filter of time, they are looking pretty good to me. I am planning to register the copyright, but don't know how to sort them by year for a "group".
Thanks in advance for any input!
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If you're in the U.S., take a look at the FAQ item What is publication? (http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-definitions.html#publication) and Copyright Office Basics: Publication (http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#pub).
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As far as I am concerned, it is published when I post it on my website. Since I license only through my website, any image that is used ("published") by someone else has been first published on my website. That provides me with a simple means to know the date of first publication that I use for registration.