Shiryl -

You might want to check out some of the information at this link with regards to watermarking your images.

Most people will use a program like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to watermark their images. There are specialized software applications for watermarking but it seems ( to me) that having an application just for that purpose is a bit wasteful when you can accomplish the same (with more flexibility I might add) with most pieces of post processing software.

The simplest version of watermarking would be to create a separate text layer to contain your copyright and lower the opacity of that layer so that the text is visible but not obtrusive. The basic text is something like:

© 2007 Joseph Russo

I hope this helps!

BTW - To get the © symbol on a Windows computer hold down the ALT key and type 0169 on the numeric keypad. Maybe a Macintosh user can contribute the sequence for doing this on a Mac.

P.S. - If you are using Photoshop there is a good video by Matt Kloskowski here about adding a watermark to your photo.

An legal copyright is granted to the creator of a work as soon as the work is created. This enables the owner of the material (book, song, photo, etc) to stop someone else from using their work without permission, but until the copyright is officially registered with the Copyright Office, you will not be able sue for past damages.

If all you want to do is put the copyright (or other watermark) symbol on your photo, you have the answer in the first response.

On a Mac, it's Alt/Option "g".

Jim

" but until the copyright is officially registered with the Copyright Office, you will not be able sue for past damages."

The question I have - assuming that one registers something with the copyright office after something has been stolen - can one sue for damages retroactively? i.e. you have a watermarked image that is stolen...you find out about the theft, and then register it with the copyright office. Can you retroactively seek compensation for damages?

James

"assuming that one registers something with the copyright office after something has been stolen"
Time is of the essence in these cases, and the time of creation versus the time of theft versus the time of registering the copyright do matter.
I'm not where I have a nice printed copy of the exact wording (not at the studio today!), but if you create it, post it, it's stolen, and you register it after-the-fact, the sequence must have occurred within a certain number of days. Essentially, you have a grace period after creation to register, even if it occurs after someone uses your creation without permission.

I realize I'm way late to an old thread, but this might be helpful to someone who comes along and reads it.

The difference between registered and non-registered is in the type and amount of damages you can receive. For infringement of non-registered material, you can only collect for actual value, while for registered material you can collect punitive damages and court court costs etc.

The time limit folks are referencing has nothing to do with the date of creation of the work, but rather the date of PUBLICATION.

Carolyn Wright is a photographer and attorney who deals with copyright issues frequently on her blog as well as on another photography forum out there on the WWW.

Her blog is here: http://www.photoattorney.com/