I'm wondering what the process is of transferring copyright ownership is. I ask because my wife and I have started a small photography business and are now getting questions regarding copyrights. In our contract, right now we say basically we retain the copyright to all of the images, but give the client non-exclusive rights to them. We allow them to do anything they'd like with the photos except use our own photos to start and compete as a photography company. Now, I'm perfectly happy with this, but I'd like to be able to explain what the difference is between the copyright and what we give them. I'd also like to know how to transfer the copyright if needed. I'm perfectly fine giving away our copyrights as of right now. I understand the client will be able to use it for anything, even publishing and making money off of the images. Great, if they can do that! so What is the process of transferring the copyright on multiple photos?
asked Jun 23, 2015 at 12:24 ntgCleaner ntgCleaner 317 4 4 silver badges 13 13 bronze badgesDisclaimer
I am not a lawyer. Go hire one if you need legal advice. Also, I am located in the United States, and this answer is given in that context. Things may be a little (or a lot) different if you're in a different country.
Transferring Copyright
It's like anything else in business: you and your client sign a contract in which you agree to assign your copyright to the client. You could use a stock version like the one I linked above, or have your lawyer come up with something specific to your business, maybe an optional addendum to your standard contract. If you want to transfer the copyright on multiple photos at once, you'd naturally specify all of the photos in the agreement.
Registration
Copyright and copyright registration are two different things. When you create something like a photograph, you as the creator own the copyright. If you think it's an important enough work that people might argue about who owns it, you can register your copyright with the US Copyright Office. If you transfer your registered copyright, you'll want to record the transfer with the Copyright Office. The Copyright Office explains in some detail how to do this, but the short and sweet version is that you send them a certification of the transfer (and a fee, naturally), and then they record it and send back a certification that the transfer was recorded.