Dear PPA Member,
Are past customers and media buyers looking for you because they want to have a photo reproduced? What about today’s customers who look for you years from now…after you have moved?
Protecting your copyright is too important to leave to chance. PPA has teamed up with other photographic associations to create the Photographer Registry at www.photographerregistry.com, making it easier for the public to locate photographic copyright owners.
Often, a consumer will remember where a photo was taken, or will have your old address or phone number. But what if you closed that business or moved? How does that consumer then connect with your new location? It leads to dead-ends and frustrated media buyers who can’t get an up-to -date address, which feeds the frustration with copyrights and increases complaints to government.
This is why the Photographer Registry focuses on the photographer, not the photo. It’s the result of photographers working together. This online listing—updated by photographers themselves—makes it easier to be located and addresses the concerns of the public in a proactive manner. It answers the critics who complain to Congress and the Copyright Office about how hard it is to find a copyright owner. And a Registry listing can be good for business, too. It isn’t a search engine, but don’t you want to make it easy for your customers to find you when they are looking for a reproduction?
The Registry opened last October with PPA members already listed. We urge you to update and customize that free entry. And we encourage new PPA members, who aren’t already listed, to set up your own listing. (Contact information in the Registry will not be used for other purposes, is kept on a secure server, and will not be shared with any third parties.)
At PPA we stand for copyrights. Standing together makes it easier and helps everyone in the industry. And as always, don’t forget to mark your work as copyrighted.
Sincerely,
Al Hopper
Director of Membership, Copyright & Government Affairs
PS: Thanks to members who participated in the last RECON program, “shopping” their local photo retailers. Find out more about the RECON program, and let us know if you are interested in joining the next RECON team.
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