What Is Copyright
According to the U.S Copyright Office "Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works." "Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed."

Translation: Copyright protects original works created in a medium that can be physically interacted with. Meaning a photograph can be printed or the digital file can be uploaded to the internet. A novel can be printed as a book or written on a legal pad. A sculpture can be touched and felt. A painting can hang on the wall. People can interact and experience all of these things in a physical way. But no one can interact with an idea that's only in your head. So you can image the most perfect photograph in the world but you can't copyright the idea of it or anything else until you actually make that photograph. So work that someone else can interact with can be copyrighted, ideas and concepts that reside only in your head cannot.

How are Copyrights Created
In a way copyrights are born, not created. Meaning they come into being as soon as your work does. The instant your create a work you automatically own the copyright to it. You don't have to register, you don't have to put a notice on it, you don't have to do anything. A copyright is established automatically when any original work is created. For works created after 1978 (when the laws changed on some copyright issues) copyrights generally last 70 years after the creator of the copyrighted work dies. The time limits are different for works created by multiple people and works created for hire.

Copyright Registration
Your copyright is created automatically when you produce your work. Great, swell, but you can't sue for copyright infringement with that automatically created, unregistered copyright. Should someone use one of your photographs on the cover of a book without your consent the copyright of that photograph must be registered in order for you to take legal action. You can't bring a copyright infringement lawsuit if your copyright is not registered. If you don't register copyright in advance and you find someone using your work without permission you will have to register before any lawsuit can be filed.

So what exactly is copyright registration? Again from the U.S. Copyright Office "In general, copyright registration is a legal formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright. However, registration is not a condition of copyright protection. Even though registration is not a requirement for protection, the copyright law provides several inducements or advantages to encourage copyright owners to make registration."

These advantages include:
- Establishing a public record of your copyright ownership. This is something akin to a home field advantage. If your copyright is unregistered you may run into people that don't care about it because they don't fear any legal action. They won't be intimidated. But if you've registered a record exists with the U.S. Government and in the public that says the work is yours and only yours and the full weight of U.S. Copyright law is on your side.

- If you register either 3 months after publication of your work or before infringement happens you can not only sue for actual damages and profits but also statutory damages and attorney's fees.

- Registration allows you to also register with U.S. Customs to prevent any infringing works from being imported into the U.S. Obviously that's a large scale concern that most of is won't be dealing with but it's nice to know it's there.

How to Register
Registration of copyright is actually a pretty simple process. You must send three things to the Copyright Office in the same envelope .

1. A properly completed application
2. $30 for each application
3. "A nonreturnable deposit of the work being registered" A copy of your photograph that will not be returned to you (slide, print, CD)

You can register two or more photographs as a collection. The obvious advantage to that is that you don't have to repeat the process for every photograph you want to register. To register a collection the photographs have to be assembled in an "orderly form", the photos contain a single title that identifies the collection as a whole, you own the copyright to all the photos and all the photographs are by you or if they are by different photographers then you at least one of the photographers (namely you) must have contributed copyrightable authorship to each photograph. Meaning if it was a group project you had to have had a hand in the creation of each photograph in the collection.

Hopefully this general info has given you a bit more information about copyrights and copyright registration. The U.S. Copyright Office has an abundance information so it's the place to go if you're looking for more detailed information. Remember I'm not lawyer and you probably aren't either so please consult an attorney if you need one.

Resources
U.S. Copyright Office
U.S. Copyright Office: Registrations of Photographs
U.S. Copyright Office: Visual Art Works Registration