should I copyright individual images or together as if in a book

March 22, 2010 @ 6:02amtamarareyna says:
I am an airbush body artist and have created quite a few images for stencils. I want to get them copy written. I think it would probaby cost a small fortune to have each one copy written individually so, I was wondering if I created a book of the stencil images and had the book of images copywritten does that mean each individual image is protected.
March 23, 2010 @ 9:25amksmith says:
Several things you should know about this question.

First, and most important, your stencil designs are protected by copyright even if you do not register them. As long as they are original work fixed in a tangible form, they are protected automatically. Registration is necessary if you want to sue someone for infringement, but protection itself starts at the moment the design is "fixed."

Second, the fee for copyright registration is not very high; it is only $35 if the online form is used.

Third, it is sometimes possible to register a group of images using a single application and paying only a single fee, but there are restrictions on when that option is available. For images, for example, one type of group registration requires that the images all have the same artist and copyright claimant and that they were all published in the same calendar year. Hard to tell if you could meet that particular set of requirements.

You can get lots of information on the Copyright Office's web site, which is http://www.copyright.gov/

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