1114.6 (D) Title and Publication Information for Each Photograph
As discussed in Section 1114.4 (A), applicants must prepare and submit a list containing the title and file name for each photograph in the group. And in the case of published photographs, the list must specify the month and year of publication for each photo.
The U.S. Copyright Office encourages applicants to include the month, day, and year of publication, although the specific day on which a particular photograph was published is not required for purposes of registration. If the applicant does not include this information, the actual publication date may be need to be proven in court in the event that photo is infringed.
Likewise, applicants are encouraged – ” but not required – ” to enter this same information in the application itself. For step-by-step instructions on how to copy the information from the title list and paste it into the application, consult the help text and video tutorials that accompany each application.
If the applicant provides title and publication information in the application, that information will appear on the certificate of registration and in the online public record for the claim. This will improve the quality of the record by making this information more accessible to the public. If the registration is issued within five years after the publication of a particular photograph, the certificate will create a legal presumption that the photo was published in the month and year specified in that record. See 17
U.S.C. § 410 (C).
If the applicant provides titles and publication information in the title list, but does not include that information in the application, that information will not appear on the certificate or the online public record (although the Office will keep a copy of the list in its files). In such cases, the registration specialist will add an annotation to the record, such as: “Regarding title: Deposit contains complete list of titles that correspond to the individual photographs included in this group.”