What to do with my images?

[ray.duke]

I bought my first "real camera", a Canon Rebel 2000 at the end of 1999 and have taken every picture of everything I can ever since. Photography has become my passion, although I'm new to large format. The problem I'm having is that I have literally tens of thousands of photo's, some of which are very good. Some of these are 35mm, b&w as well as color, and some are 10 MP digital. I don't have a problem keeping them organized, I have a very detailed filing system both for digital and print, but I'm not sure what to do with them now. Nothing is copyrighted and I don't even know how to legally copyright them. My main question is weather to actually publish any of them. My photography is special to me, and "owning" any particular photo that I've taken gives me pride. I know that getting some things published here and there could ultimately get my foot in the door to make some cash in the future, but then I can't say that I own the photo if the company requires ownership of the copyright when they publish. Even if they only purchase a one time publishing right, then I still can't say to somebody else in the future that the photo they want to buy has never been published. In the short term, I'm happy just taking my pictures, but in the long run I want to make sure that I manage my valuable photo's to my best advantage. Any suggestions?

[Kirk Gittings]

I have had thousands of photographs published. With commercial photography some publisher sometimes want images that have not been published, but some of my architecture images have been published dozens of times. For my artwork, the more it is published the more it is worth. Sometimes art magazines want "fresh" work but that is not the same thing. Get your work out there. It gives you legitimacy, confidence and some spare change.

[cyrus]

You can first start by registering the copyright to your photos. This is not complicated (in the US) and you can probably register the copyright to all of your photos at one time with a single fee if you file a single registration application with a copy (not full sized) of all of your photos.

It is somewhat important that the copyright registration be filed BEFORE you publish the photos anywhere.

Then, I would post them on a well-designed website, and see if you can also promote them on various stock photography sites.

It is very unlikely that anyone would demand to purchase your copyright to a photo. That's usually only done in cases when they hire a photographer to take some shots, in which case the contract specifies that the photographer does not own the copyright. If they're only using your photos, all they usually ask for is a license to use them, not to own the copyright.

Anyway, until you actually get a potential customer, you don't need to worry about that.

[Robert Glieden]

They are © the moment you release the shutter. Registering them will give you greater protection if someone would misuse your "intellectual property". The government has a website specifically about ©. Google it and it should come up. Try www.copyright.gov. To actually register them you pay a fee (something around $30-35) and you can send as many images as you like with that fee. But the next time you send stuff in you pay the same fee. You'll learn more at that website. It's a confusing subject - these are just some of the tidbits I remember from college. Hope it helps,

Rob

[Martin D.]

Is it possible to search photos registered with the US Copyright Office? Just used the search function at copyright.gov, tried a few well known names and nothing came up (other than some books with copyrighted text, CD covers, etc.). But no individual photos or collections of individual photos that would be copyrighted directly by the artist.

[photomoe]

That is interesting and seemingly counter intuitive ... I'm not doubting but how does a photo appreciate by being published many times

[Tony Flora]

The best thing I ever did, when I had thousands of photos, was to delete most of them. I had been saving and managing thousands of images that had no real value other than the psychological one I placed upon them. Psychological value is nice for mementos but not for work. I learned a lot about myself and my photography.

[Kirk Gittings]

That is interesting and seemingly counter intuitive ... I'm not doubting but how does a photo appreciate by being published many times

Having an "original" of a widely published image can become very desirable to some collectors. And also the more it is published the more people are aware of it. Most people also assume if it is published it must be good. That way they don't have to make aesthetic decisions for themselves.

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

That is interesting and seemingly counter intuitive ... I'm not doubting but how does a photo appreciate by being published many times

What would the value be of an unknown photographer's unknown photograph? By being published the photographer not only adds value to himself, but also value to his work.

[Mchilly]

You can published your photo but make sure to copyright it, it's good to hear both negative and positive comments though. And by publishing your photos gives u a big chance to earn money out of your hobby so I think you should do that :-)