I am an amateur photographer and I am going to start printing some of my work on greeting cards and things like that. How do I copyright all my photos so nobody else can use them? Is a watermark good enough?

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As a professional commercial photographer for 20 years... Let it go...If someone wants to steal your work their going to. Back in the day you could worry about this...but in the digital age with photoshop being so easy to access theres really no point in fretting yourself that much. Not worth the headache. If someone does steal it...take it as a complement. Is it really worth the hassle and charge of an attorney? When you may not be able to present proof its yours anyway? Also, I think watermarks degrade the image and look cheesy. If you ever become professional you'll understand when you try to watermark 5000 shots. Art is meant to be shared with the world, dont try to "own" it or you'll end up looking foolish. Its not like there are not other pictures out there like yours. No artist is original, we all get inspiration from somewhere else. which in essence is stealing the concept. The more comfortable you get with that the more fun you'll have!

Technically, any creative work is copyrighted the moment it is produced in a tangible form. You can put the © (copyright) symbol along with the year your greeting card/ other product is created by you. However, if you really want to protect yourself in the event of an infringement case, it is best to register your photos with the U.S. Copyright office as soon as possible after you create them; that way, if someone uses your photos in an unauthorized way, you may be eligible to for attorney's fees and damages (you can still pursue legal action against an infringer without having registered your works first, but it will be more difficult because the burden of proof will be on YOU to present actual proof of damages such as lost work or profits because of the infringement). You send in a contact sheet of your photos, plus a form you can download off the internet, along with a payment (I believe it is currently $45), to the Copyright office. Find more information about it here: http://www.copyright.gov/

Go to the Library of Congress and fill out a copyright form!!!!