A potential "Product" you might want to consider...

[sk66]

It occured to me that every professional photographer keeps copies of thier work. This costs you money (storage space etc).....I think you might be able to charge for it.

Consider you take pictures of someones wedding. You could offer an "archiving fee" to store a copy of the originals and all edited versions on archival media in a safe/secure manner (fire safe).
Explain the benefits of this "off site storage" for them should there ever be a "catastrophic loss" at their home (etc etc)...
You could even offer "brackets":
5yrs $100, 10yrs $200, indefinite $300 (or whatever)

Just a thought...

[theosus]

Sounds good in theory, but what happens if YOU have a fire, catastrophic failure, etc. etc. and the client comes back wanting their photos? If you can't produce them I would think you would be liable for all the back payments, probably with interest. Although for a few hundred dollars you could buy several of those little 1TB drives and rent a safe deposit box, the headache of keeping up with it all may not outweigh the benefits from profits.
Good idea however, as even CDs/DVDs go bad, providing your client even gets one of those.

[sk66]

You would have to have a disclaimer as to media failure/catastrophe.. Your backup system should provide good protection for your files already. I think DVD's stored in a fire safe above water line should be more than reasonable for "long term storage".

[Jim Poor]

Archiving fees have been around for a while.

Not a bad idea, but be darn sure you have a perfect backup system.

I'm actually looking to add a "Copyright registration fee" to my invoices if I can find a way to do it without anyone thinking I'm registering the © to THEM.

[funcrunch]

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

I'm actually looking to add a "Copyright registration fee" to my invoices if I can find a way to do it without anyone thinking I'm registering the © to THEM.

Interesting idea Jim. I'm using the $35/batch reg fee as part of the justification for not doing free/cheapo shoots anymore, but I haven't added the fee as a line item to any shoots.

[Jim Poor]

Yeah, this comes from a "need" to register them before they are published.

I had been registering quarterly, but now I'd like to register after each shoot, before I put up the proofs. That takes my expenses up quite a bit.

[funcrunch]

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

Yeah, this comes from a "need" to register them before they are published.

I had been registering quarterly, but now I'd like to register after each shoot, before I put up the proofs. That takes my expenses up quite a bit.

I just started registering this year, and usually register each batch right before I publish. But you still preserve your rights if you register within three months of publication I believe, even if an infringement has already occurred. I had a series of four nights of concert shoots last month, and waited till after publication to register the whole batch, so I could get each night up publicly as soon as it was published, in the hopes of getting more pre-holiday orders.

[Jim Poor]

Yes. you preserve your rights, however registering "published" images is a pain compared registering "unpublished" images.

Unfortunately, my IP lawyer feels that proofs on a website = published.

Getting the status wrong, will get a case thrown out.

[funcrunch]

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

Yes. you preserve your rights, however registering "published" images is a pain compared registering "unpublished" images.

Not if you're using the online registration, as long as the images in the batch are all from the same year. I just check on the form that the images in the batch I'm registering are published, and enter the date of first publication. Otherwise identical to registering unpublished images.

[sk66]

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

Archiving fees have been around for a while.

Not a bad idea, but be darn sure you have a perfect backup system.

You don't have to provide a "guarantee", just a valuable added level of protection...

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

I'm actually looking to add a "Copyright registration fee" to my invoices if I can find a way to do it without anyone thinking I'm registering the © to THEM.

Why? Just increase your base fee.