What Photographers Need To Know About Copyright Law
photo: @dnamag.co
What happens if someone uses your images without permission or credit?
First of all, what exactly is photo copyright?
Copyright in photography means that you own an image you created. The law says you created that image as soon as the shutter is released.
This means that photographer copyright laws state that whoever pushed the button owns the copyright. A photographer will own that copyright throughout their life and 70 years afterwards.
Whether it’s photography on your hard drive, online portfolio website, or a post on your Instagram feed, with this ownership, you have exclusive rights to your image according to the Copyright Law of the United States of America. This photography and copyright law covers you for:
Reproducing your photography
Preparing derivative works based on your photography
Distributing copies of your photography to the public (by sale, rental, lease, or lending)
Publicly displaying your photography
Owning the copyright on your photography doesn’t require any special paperwork, or having the © associated with your image. The copyright will automatically apply once you post your photography online because, at that point, it exists in a “tangible medium.” It’s out there, and it’s yours.
Work-for-Hire is an exception to this rule.
The only exception to this rule is when your photography falls into the “work-made-for-hire” (or “work for hire”) category.
A Work-for-Hire relationship is created in two situations:
The photographer is an employee hired to take photographs for an employer. A photojournalist employed by a newspaper is an example of Work-for-Hire. However, a wedding or portrait photographer hired for one specific event is not Work-for-Hire.
The photographer is hired and signs a written contract that specifically states that the work is to be considered Work-for-Hire.
The Work-for-Hire agreement will relinquish any rights the photographer has to the work created for the client, so make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into before signing on that dotted line.
Do you to add the ‘©’ notice to maintain your photo’s rights?
Including a copyright notice—such as ‘©’, the word ‘copyright,’ or ‘Copr.’ with a date and name of the copyright owner—is no longer required to declare who owns the copyright of a photograph. However, if you want to cover all your bases, there’s no harm in adding it to each photo you publish.
