Under the law it's the person who takes the photo that owns the copyright, except for the following exceptions:

• If the photographer is the employee of a company and taking the photo as part of his\her jobs, or as an employee of a company they are instructed to take the photos. In this situation the photographer will be acting on behalf of his/her employer so the company the photographer works for owns the copyright.

• If there is an agreement that assigns copyright to another party.

In all other cases, the photographer retains the copyright. If the photographer has been paid for his work the payment will be for the photographer?s time and typically an allocated number of prints. The copyright to the photos will remain with the photographer and any reproduction without permission would be an infringement of copyright.



Can I use the work of others?

As with all copyright work, you should first obtain permission from the copyright owner before you use someone else?s work. You should also be prepared to pay a fee, as many photographers will charge you for using their work. Only the copyright owner can give permission, so you should contact the photographer, or his/her company, directly for consent. For images published on the Internet, it is typical to contact the webmaster of the site in the first instance, unless the site provides contact details of the owner of the images.

Note: The copyright owner has no obligation to allow you to use their work, and can refuse permission for any reason.

Why should I mark my work?

The two primary reasons for marking your work are to ensure that those accessing your images are clear that copyright exists and that they know who to contact to obtain permission.

 

Should I place a copyright notices on my photos?

We do recommended that you mark your work with a copyright notice, as this makes it clear that copyright exists, and helps to deter infringement. For traditional prints, it is customary to use a stamp to mark the copyright notice and the copyright owners contact details on the back of the print. For electronic images, it is also possible to include the copyright/contact details in the file properties. Under Windows for example, right clicking on a image will allow you to bring up the properties dialogue where you may enter details about the file, (though this will only work with certain file types). More typically, your image software will provide a way to insert comments into the file; this is preferred as these are harder to remove.



Should I use Model release forms?

An individual has certain rights to control the use of their image. The specific details will vary from one country to another depending on national legislation, although the general rule seems to be to protect a person against defamatory or offensive use of their image.

If you intend to sell or distribute images that include people, then it is worth getting your subjects to sign a model release form as this will protect you against any comeback.