Less than 1% of professional photographers regularly register their work with the Copyright Office – which also means that they are the only photographers who have a realistic chance of enforcing their copyright in court.

The reason is economics. The United States has a two-tier system of copyright infringement damages. While all creative works are copyrighted at the moment of creation, they are not eligible for the maximum level of legal protection unless they are formally registered and deposited with the United States Copyright Office. Access to these enhanced damages, also requires that the registration be “timely.” The work must be registered prior to the infringement, or within the first three months after the work (not the infringement) was first published.

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