Sta.sh
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There are a number of commercial organisations in the UK offering ‘copyright registration’ of original works – for a not-insignificant fee.
This is very different to the registration on offer in the USA, which is a service run by the USA Government’s own Copyright Office. Historically, it was a legal requirement in the USA for work to be registered in order for the originator to benefit from copyright protection. This requirement has been mostly superseded by the Berne Convention however the US still requires registration for works of U.S. origin before the owner can pursue a claim in court, and provides legal advantages to copyrights that have been registered.
There is no requirement for registration in the UK. Your source for all definitive information should be the UK Intellectual Property Office. Check out the succinct information on Automatic Protection and what the UK IPO has to say about Copyright Registers.
Compare these statements made by a commercial service and by the UK IPO on sending a copy to yourself in a sealed envelope:
The commercial organisation says:
”You could post a copy to yourself, (and we are still amazed how often this is quoted as ‘the way to prove copyright’), but the reality is that as the copy you post remains in your possession, you have ample opportunity to tamper with the contents. Even if you did successfully use it, (and it would be a pretty poor lawyer who could not bring some doubt on it as evidence), once you used it, it has been opened and no longer sealed evidence if you need it again in an appeal or future infringement.
(What they don’t say is that if you had to use it in an appeal, it would carry the same evidential weight it did in the original case and that if there was a further copyright dispute on the same image, you could refer to the previous dispute. Evidence of a previous win is likely to cause subsquent disputes to be settled out of court.)
Whereas the UK IPO says:
”Is the registration likely to be better than the evidence you can create for yourself by sending a copy of the work to yourself by Special Delivery post and not opening the envelope upon its return?”
Note that neither registration nor sending a copy of the work to yourself show that you were the creator of the work. Keeping copies of all your drafts and any other material that shows your connection with the particular copyright material as you develop it could, however, be useful evidence if you ever have to prove that you are the author.
Some of the commercial registration service websites look very ‘official’. They are not, they’re commercial organisations and they offer – at a price - a service that is perfectly legal but may be of limited value in the event you need to prove copyright. They (at least, the ones I have seen) don’t offer any practical assistance in the event of a copyright dispute, they simply offer to provide proof of registration which is, don’t forget, not definitive evidence that you are the creator of the work.
There’s probably even scope for an argument that posting your work on dA provides as much evidence as paying for a registration service
This is very different to the registration on offer in the USA, which is a service run by the USA Government’s own Copyright Office. Historically, it was a legal requirement in the USA for work to be registered in order for the originator to benefit from copyright protection. This requirement has been mostly superseded by the Berne Convention however the US still requires registration for works of U.S. origin before the owner can pursue a claim in court, and provides legal advantages to copyrights that have been registered.
There is no requirement for registration in the UK. Your source for all definitive information should be the UK Intellectual Property Office. Check out the succinct information on Automatic Protection and what the UK IPO has to say about Copyright Registers.
Compare these statements made by a commercial service and by the UK IPO on sending a copy to yourself in a sealed envelope:
The commercial organisation says:
”You could post a copy to yourself, (and we are still amazed how often this is quoted as ‘the way to prove copyright’), but the reality is that as the copy you post remains in your possession, you have ample opportunity to tamper with the contents. Even if you did successfully use it, (and it would be a pretty poor lawyer who could not bring some doubt on it as evidence), once you used it, it has been opened and no longer sealed evidence if you need it again in an appeal or future infringement.
(What they don’t say is that if you had to use it in an appeal, it would carry the same evidential weight it did in the original case and that if there was a further copyright dispute on the same image, you could refer to the previous dispute. Evidence of a previous win is likely to cause subsquent disputes to be settled out of court.)
Whereas the UK IPO says:
”Is the registration likely to be better than the evidence you can create for yourself by sending a copy of the work to yourself by Special Delivery post and not opening the envelope upon its return?”
Note that neither registration nor sending a copy of the work to yourself show that you were the creator of the work. Keeping copies of all your drafts and any other material that shows your connection with the particular copyright material as you develop it could, however, be useful evidence if you ever have to prove that you are the author.
Some of the commercial registration service websites look very ‘official’. They are not, they’re commercial organisations and they offer – at a price - a service that is perfectly legal but may be of limited value in the event you need to prove copyright. They (at least, the ones I have seen) don’t offer any practical assistance in the event of a copyright dispute, they simply offer to provide proof of registration which is, don’t forget, not definitive evidence that you are the creator of the work.
There’s probably even scope for an argument that posting your work on dA provides as much evidence as paying for a registration service
LOL only in the sense they are not international and administered from a better binding convention than the one you quoted. To bad it is left to individual nations to use or not use it as it is written, how long to use it or not, and it is non-existent in some nation countries too, and there isn't a lot of international legal support unless individual countries have agreements (so, I have to pursue claims via agreements between Canada and the UK and not through the UN). A few things I discovered in reading about it not mentioned on the Wiki anyways. I think it would have been better to have it more concrete and for disputes to be handled through the UN. Meh, thats just me anyways.
However, in the mire of the differing laws based on nations and where you display distribute publish etc your works etc it is too easy to succumb to fear and pounce on agencies that you "think" may give you something better than what you don't already have. Good reminder to read and really learn for your own self.
So, thank you
Sadly, there are some nations that balk at the idea they could be held responsible on the world scene for crimes of its citizens. Even though these same nations seem to want all other nations to adhere to laws they independently arrive at.
So until the boys with the guns grow up we are not likely to see a world court system implemented, even if a majority of member nations want one. Those of us without nukes all get vetoed
Nothing worse than thinking you are paying for something worthwhile just to have it turn out to be worthless.
I'd advise anyone using or making images for anything other than trivial purposes to pick up a bit of copyright law.