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What are the legal ways to dedicate my photos to the public domain and avoid copyright restrictions?
In the United States, photographs are automatically copyrighted to the photographer as soon as they are taken, as long as they are not a photo of an existing artistic work.
A watermark over your photograph is not a legal way to copyright your images, but it can deter image theft and provide benefits.
To bring a lawsuit for infringement of your US copyright, you need to formally register your images with the U.S.
Copyright Office.
Registering your photographs provides independent, legally-permissible proof that you own the copyright on your work and can make it easier to navigate intellectual property lawsuits.
You can register photographs with the U.S.
Copyright Office online or by mail, and you must include a copy of the work to be copyrighted and pay the filing fee.
If you have been commissioned to take photographs by an employer, you may not hold the copyright to the images.
Creative Commons licensed images are a legal way to use copyrighted images online.
Stock photography websites provide an alternative to using copyrighted images online.
Obtaining permission from the copyright owner is another way to legally use copyrighted images online.
To dedicate a photo to the public domain, you can use a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license, which waives all copyrights and related rights.
When dedicating a photo to the public domain, you can also use public domain dedications, such as the CC0 or the Unlicense, to clearly indicate that you are waiving all copyrights.
When using public domain images, be aware that even if the original work is in the public domain, specific versions or adaptations of that work may still be copyrighted.
To avoid copyright infringement, always verify the copyright status of an image before using it, and obtain permission or use public domain or Creative Commons licensed images.
Technical countermeasures, such as watermarks or digital rights management, can be used to prevent unauthorized copying of your images.
Copyright protection exists from the moment an original work is "fixed" in a tangible medium, such as when a photograph is taken.
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