RE: Re: Unpublished Photographs - Deposit Requirements

It is my understanding that the use of the term "collection" in registering a group of unpublished photographs is not related to the term "collective work" as defined under title 17, though the terms are frequently (and incorrectly) interchanged. "Collection" is a term of convenience, allowing the claimant, the copyright office and other interested parties to refer to the group of images as a whole, for expediency in registering multiple works on one registration. The images need not be related in terms of subject matter. For example, a collection of unpublished photographs could be titled "John Smith's Unpublished Photographs, 2004," consisting of photographs created for many different clients, on different dates, at different locations, resulting from jobs throughout the year. Each image registered in the collection receives the same level of protection afforded an image registered separately on a single registration, and there is no limit to the number of unpublished works that may be registered on one registration form. Note that the claimant may also receive copyright in the collection itself if the assembly of the collection involved sufficient authorship so as to qualify as protectible expression. This may complicate matters.

Professional photographers may create as many as 50,000 images per year, the bulk of which remain unpublished images. Filing a separate registration for each image would obviously be impractical. For these photographers, registration of individual images is not an option. Without the group registration option, they would not register their works.

Of course, the benefit of group registration is greatly reduced if the claimant's records are disorganized. Provided that a claimant is able to create an organized filing system allowing the claimant to quickly and accurately locate the registration associated with any one image, the registration of collections is preferable to a failure to register.

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213 626 3323
212 447 1255 Received on Thu May 27 2004 - 17:19:21 GMT