“Copyright” describes the rights given to
creators for their literary and artistic works.
But we often don’t consider copyright when we look at our wedding, or family photos, or go to get them copied. Even though it is so easy to copy an image—with scanners, photo-quality printers, and copy stations—it is still illegal!
Things to remember about copyright:
• Copyright is a property right.
• Just because you buy a print or print release, does not mean you have purchased the copyright.
• Professional photographers are the smallest of small copyright holders.
• Under the Federal Copyright Act of 1976, photographs are protected by copyright from the moment of creation.
• Photographers have the exclusive right to reproduce their photographs (right to control the making of copies).
• Unless you have permission from the photographer, you can’t copy, distribute (no scanning and sending them to others), publicly display (no putting them online), or create derivative works from photographs.
• A photographer can easily create over 20,000 separate pieces of intellectual property annually.
• Professional photographers are dependent on their ability to control the reproduction of the photographs they create.
o It affects their income and the livelihood of their families.
• Even small levels of infringement—copying a photo without permission—can have a devastating impact on a photographer’s ability to make a living.
• Copyright infringements—reproducing photos without permission—can result in civil and criminal penalties.
How to get legal copies of professional photographs:
• Contact the photographer/copyright owner. Photographers are happy to discuss options for reproducing photos with you.
Copyright is part of federal law. Published and unpublished photographs may be protected and registered. It is unlawful for anyone to violate (infringe upon) the rights of a copyright owner. A case of copyright infringement may only be heard by a federal court.
According to the U.S. Copyright Office, the owner of the “work” is generally the photographer or, in certain situations, the employer of the photographer. Even if a person hires a photographer to take pictures of a wedding, for example, the photographer will own the copyright in the photographs unless the copyright in the photographs is transferred, in writing and signed by the copyright owner, to another person. The subject of the photograph generally has nothing to do with the ownership of the copyright in the photograph. If the photographer is no longer living, the rights in the photograph are determined by the photographer’s will or passed as personal property by the applicable laws of intestate succession.
FAQs
I paid my photographer, don’t I own the photograph?
Sometimes it is thought that anytime someone purchases a portrait session they own the photographs, however, this is not true.
