Our friend Jonathan Bailey at Plagiarism Today describes a recent case decided by the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) in favor of real estate photographer Kimberly Mullin. The CCB is the small-claim copyright alternative administered by the U.S. Copyright Office, and Bailey notes that many of the cases it has resolved to-date have been straightforward claims and, thus, the CCB has largely focused on determining reasonable damage awards.
We noticed this story about Mullin because it’s the kind of thing that happens to real estate photographers all the time. Mullin was hired to photograph a condominium by a seller, but the buyer the property then used 26 of those photos without permission for the purpose of listing it for rent via Zillow.
Bailey reports that the CCB awarded Mullin $1,200, and separate from his observations about the board’s decision-making process, we wanted to make a point: if those 26 photographs had been registered with the Copyright Office prior to the infringing use, and if Mullin wanted to go to federal court, the maximum potential damage award would be $3.9 million.
Don’t take that as a criticism of using the CCB or a recommendation to always file a federal lawsuit or an implication that a court would likely award so much in this kind of case. But what we do want to stress is the bargaining power afforded by registering your photographs prior to commencement of an infringement—ideally before they ever leave your studio.
You can register up to 750 photographs per application for less than $100 using the RightsClick copyright management suite—and we take care of the spreadsheets! As you register your work, you’re also building a copyright database for your portfolio. Plus, we have tools in RightsClick to help you take enforcement actions—possibly instead of going to court or the CCB!
