Happy Copyright Month!

At the end of last year, Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Peter Welch introduced the Visual Artists Copyright Reform Act, also known as VACRA. You may be asking yourself: Why do visual artists need copyright reform?

Visual artists are among the most prolific creators in America. For photographers, it is common for a single person to produce tens of thousands of creative works each year. Yet the Copyright Act requires creators to register each individual work to fully enforce their rights, and the current system can be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming.

Currently, fewer than 3 percent of photographers regularly register their work because the system is too costly and time-consuming. If the average photographer were to register all of their work for a year, it would cost $2,860 for just 44 registrations — a significant expense, not to mention the opportunity cost.

VACRA offers common-sense reforms to the copyright registration system so visual artists are no longer shut out. The legislation would direct the Copyright Office to improve the system by creating a subscription-based payment option, increasing registration limits for photographs, and establishing a deferred registration system. You can read the bill here.