Pixsy RegisterYou own the copyright the moment you take a photo. Registering it is what lets you enforce it. Pixsy files your registration with the US Copyright Office (USCO) or Canada's CIPO for you, from $99 with the filing fee included.
Already a Pixsy client? Log in and choose Register.
150,000+ photographers and creators use Pixsy
250,000+ image theft cases handled
4.5 stars from photographers · read reviews
Open to photographers anywhere in the world. You don't need to live in the US to register there.
One photo, or up to 750 in one registration: photos published in the same year, or a group of unpublished ones.
We complete the application and the title list and submit it to the USCO or CIPO. The filing fee is included.
If the examiner has questions or asks for changes, they come to us, not you.
Linked to each photo, ready for any future case. No digging for registration numbers.
No monthly fee and nothing extra when the certificate arrives. You order inside your free Pixsy account.
US COPYRIGHT OFFICE (USCO)
$99
One photo, published or unpublished.
US COPYRIGHT OFFICE (USCO)
Best value$119
Photos published in the same calendar year, or a group of unpublished photos. About 16 cents a photo at 750.
CANADA (CIPO)
$119
One photo with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.
An unregistered photo is still protected, and you can still claim a license fee when someone uses it without paying. In the US, registration adds three things.
Up to $150,000
Registered in time with the USCO, a photo can earn $750 to $30,000, and up to $150,000 if the use was willful, plus attorney's fees. You don't have to prove what you lost.
Certificate
A government certificate with your name and a date on it. Businesses take a claim seriously when they see one.
Stronger cases
Most claims never reach court, but the business on the other side knows what a registered photo could cost them. In the US, you also need a registration to file a lawsuit.
US law gives statutory damages and legal fees only if the photo was registered before the infringement started, or within three months of first publication.
Your registration counts from the day the Office receives your complete application, not the day the certificate arrives. So file early.
A simple habit: register new work in batches every two or three months.
Before you publish
Full protection: statutory damages and attorney's fees.
Within 3 months of first publishing
Full protection, even for an infringement that started in that window.
Later
Statutory damages only for infringements that start after you register. For earlier ones, the license fee.
Filing yourself costs less. Pixsy takes the work, and the risk of a refused claim, off your desk.
| File it yourself | Pixsy Register | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | The USCO's filing fee only | $99 for one photo or $119 for up to 750, filing fee included |
| Your time | Account, application and a title list with every file name and publication date | Choose your photos |
| If something is wrong | The USCO can refuse the claim or drop photos from it, and the fee isn't refunded | We prepare the application and handle any corrections the USCO asks for |
| Questions from the USCO | You answer them | We answer them |
| When a photo is stolen | You dig out the certificate and registration number | The registration is already attached when you submit a case |
Prefer to file it yourself? Our step-by-step guide shows you how.
“We've handled more than 250,000 image theft cases, and the photographers who registered their work had far more options than those who didn't. Most skip it because the forms are slow and confusing. So we do the forms. You choose the photos.”
You don't need to do anything to get copyright. It's yours as soon as you press the shutter, in the US, Canada and almost every other country.
When people ask how to copyright a photo or an image, they usually mean registering it: putting it on the official record and getting a certificate. There are two ways:
Canadian copyright doesn't depend on registration, and Canadian law has statutory damages for commercial infringement either way. Registering with CIPO still gives you two things:
Pixsy files it for you for $119 per photo, filing fee included. If US businesses use your work too, add a US registration: that's where statutory damages are highest.
Pixsy is the only service with monitoring, takedowns, compensation recovery and copyright registration in one account.
Monitor scans the web for your images around the clock. Free for up to 500 images.
Pixsy Monitor
Submit the match to Resolve. It's free to submit, and your registration is already on file.
Pixsy Resolve
Send legally binding takedown notices to sites, hosts, social platforms and marketplaces worldwide.
Pixsy TakedownLicense fees we recover typically range from $750 to $3,000 (average $1,500), and legal settlements from $3,000 to $30,000 (average $8,000). These figures are based on 1 year US commercial use and vary by country, client and licensing history.
Yes. Pixsy Register files your copyright application for you with the US Copyright Office or the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. You choose the photos. We prepare and submit the application, answer the Office's questions and store the certificate in your Pixsy account. It costs $99 for one photo or $119 for up to 750, filing fee included.
Register them as a group. The US Copyright Office (USCO) lets one photographer register up to 750 photos in a single application, which is far cheaper per photo than filing one by one. You can file it yourself on the Office's website, or have Pixsy Register do it for you for $119 with the filing fee included.
If you can, yes. Registering before you publish means every later infringement qualifies for statutory damages and attorney's fees in the US. If you've already posted, register within three months of first publication and you keep the same protection.
Yes. You own the copyright without registering, and most claims end with the business paying a license fee for the use. You don't need a registration to submit a case to Pixsy. What you miss without timely US registration is statutory damages and attorney's fees, which is why registered photos tend to settle higher.
You apply to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), online or on paper, and pay its filing fee. CIPO sends a certificate of registration, which is evidence that you own the copyright. Pixsy Register files the CIPO application for you for $119 per photo, filing fee included.
You already own it. A photo is protected by copyright from the moment it's taken, and the photographer owns that copyright unless a contract says otherwise. To make it easier to enforce, register it with the US Copyright Office (USCO). You can file it yourself through the Office's online system, or Pixsy Register can file it for you from $99, filing fee included.
Up to 750 in one US registration. The US Copyright Office (USCO) group option is for photos by the same photographer, and they must be either all published in the same calendar year or all unpublished. Photos from different years go in separate registrations.
The Copyright Office can take several months to issue a certificate. That doesn't hold up your protection: a registration takes effect on the date the Office receives the complete application. The Office publishes its current processing times.
Most countries, including the UK, Australia and those in the EU, have no copyright registration system, and your rights apply automatically. But anyone can register with the US Copyright Office, wherever they live. If US businesses use your photos, a US registration is worth having.
Create a free Pixsy account, choose your photos, and we'll file the registration for you.