Photographers Rights

1. Basics of
Image
Copyright
For photographers this is fairly
straight forward.

2. Works of Art
• A work of art is copyrighted to the creator of that artwork the
moment it is created.
• As soon as you take a photograph, you own the copyright
and all the legal rights associated with it.

3. What Does
Copyright Do
For Me?

4. This allows
you, the
creator, to:
Make multiple copies of the photograph.
Make derivative works based on the
photograph.
Sell, rent, lease, and or lend the photograph to
other people.
Display the photograph in public

5. But don’t I have to Register it?
• Even if you don’t register the image with the U.S. Copyright
Office, you still have the rights to it.
• The rights to your photograph belongs to you as long as you
live, plus 70 years.
• For anyone else to use your photographs, they have to have
written permission for you, unless it falls under fair use or
limited classroom use.

6. What is Fair Use
• Fare use includes teaching.
• Research
• Scholarship
• Criticism
• News reporting
• Parody
• You have the right to stop
someone from using your
photograph or to request
reimbursement for the use of your
work.

7. Working for a client
• A photographer might enter into a work-for-hire contrast
• In this case, the client holds the copyright on any photographs
made for a specific project covered by the contract.
• News papers work this way. They hold the copyright.
• Photographers should be careful about signing work-for-hire
contracts.
• Once you sign your rights over, you never get them back.
• You may not even get to use the images for your own purposes.

8. Court battles
for copyright
No Joke!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/
news/2017/07/13/photograp
her-centre-bizarre-court-
battle-reveals-sued-monkey/

9. To Learn More!
• Additional Resources
• U.S. Copyright office:
• www.copyright.gov
• Note: Many image-based websites have specific language
about users’ rights if posting on the site. Be sure to read the
fine print so you understand both your rights and the
website’s rights regarding your image.

10. Try it
• License one of you photographs through the creative
commons.
• http://creativecommons.org/licenses
• Read About the licenses
• Then click the share your work at the top.