Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Registering Copyright For Deceased Photographer


Dear Rich: My father, who died in 2008, was a talented amateur photographer in the 1950s and 1960s, and I’ve started to post some of his medium-format images online (none were ever published). I’d like to batch-register his images with the copyright office. I’ve registered many of my own images, but I’m not sure how to register images for someone who has died (I do have a copy of his death certificate, if that helps). Can you suggest the procedure? It sounds like you're already familiar with batch registrations of photos but if you need more information, read this circular. You'll have to do two registrations: one for published works, the other for unpublished works. When registering works for a deceased photographer, you would need to provide the photographer's year of birth and death. If you are the owner of copyright, you would list yourself as copyright claimant. Otherwise, list whoever it is who now owns copyright. You must also list how the claimant acquired copyright. On the electronic application there is a  drop down menu and one of the choices is "By inheritance." If that's accurate, choose that. Otherwise indicate how copyright was transferred. (Below are some screenshots of the online application).
FYI Dept. Your question reminded us of another photographer who is no longer with us. 

No comments: