Very complete overview, thanks for sharing John! I registered several of my photos and it didn't take long at all, but the process was pretty rough to work out; this really helps!
Copyright subsists automatically when a photo is created under "Intellectual property" and lasts for 70 years after the death of the photographer to prove copyright and date all you would have to do is send duplicates of your photos through the post to yourself that way the images will be sealed and franked with a time and date and would serve just the same job as registering them at a fraction of the cost. If you are registering a trademark or a design however then thats a different kettle of fish.
"Mailing one's works to oneself and keeping the unopened, postmarked envelope as proof of right of ownership to them...has no substantive legal effect in the U.S. We've yet to locate a case of its use where an author's copyright was established and successfully defended in a court of law by this method."
They go on to say it may work in the U.K., but in the U.S., poor man's copyright is a fallacy. It looks like you can take advantage of this where you are, though, so that's cool.
If you have a work that is registered, you can recover your expensive attorneys fees from the infringer as part of the enhance damages. Otherwise, you have to pay for your own attorneys fees. So, yes, it's protected automatically, but you have enhanced rights if you register.
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"Mailing one's works to oneself and keeping the unopened, postmarked envelope as proof of right of ownership to them...has no substantive legal effect in the U.S. We've yet to locate a case of its use where an author's copyright was established and successfully defended in a court of law by this method."
They go on to say it may work in the U.K., but in the U.S., poor man's copyright is a fallacy. It looks like you can take advantage of this where you are, though, so that's cool.