Photographers: Know Your Legal Rights
Photographers must understand their legal rights to their work. Call our copyright lawyers today at 888-348-3090 if others violate your rights under copyright law.
As a photographer, you have certain rights to your work. These rights include the right to display your work, photograph in public places, and keep your photography equipment if someone objects to your pictures.
If someone does violate your rights, you may be able to file a copyright infringement lawsuit. Our experienced copyright lawyers can help you protect your rights under copyright law and get the compensation you deserve. Call us today for a free consultation.
Creation of Copyright in Photographs Under Copyright Law Happens Automatically
In the United States, copyright protection for photographs happens automatically when you take a photo. The photographer is considered the copyright owner from the moment of creation. The photograph is your artistic expression. You have exclusive rights to your work; others need your permission to use it.
These exclusive rights include the right to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, and create derivative works from your photograph. You also have the right to sell or license these rights to others.
If someone violates your copyright, you may be able to file a lawsuit against them.
Many photographers do register their work with the U.S. Copyright Office. This registration is not a requirement to secure copyright protection but is a prerequisite to certain types of recovery (statutory damages) if bringing a lawsuit against an infringing party.
Rights of Photographers to License Their Creative Work
You have the exclusive right to license your work as the copyright holder. You can authorize others to use your photograph for a fee. For example, you could sell rights to your photo for use in an advertisement. Or, you could license your work for use on a website, on t-shirts, editorial use, or other limited purposes. The scope of the license is whatever you agree to, so if you authorize 10,000 calendars and the other party produces 30,000 calendars and coffee mugs, they may be in breach of your license agreement, in violation of your copyright, or both. Our copyright attorneys can help you determine your legal rights.
Blanket Licenses for Copyright Materials
You can also choose to give someone a “blanket license,” which allows them to use your work for an unlimited number of uses. It’s important to note that you still own the copyright to your work, even after you’ve licensed it to someone else. You can continue to use it or permit others to license the work as well, unless you provide an exclusive license.
Retaining Copyrights When Selling Prints of Your Photographs
When you sell prints of your photographs, you are selling the physical print itself, not the rights to the photograph. The buyer does not have the right to reproduce or distribute the photo. They can only display the photo in their home or business.
If you want to sell the copyrights to your photograph and the physical print, you need to clarify this in the agreement. Otherwise, the buyer will only own the physical print and not the rights to the photograph.
Right to Take Images in Public
You have the right to photograph people in public spaces, as long as you are not violating their privacy rights. You can take pictures of people on the street, in parks, and at events open to the public. Depending upon the image, you do not need permission from anyone to take these photos. Taking of those photos would be perfectly legal, as the law is generally intended to protect photographers’ rights under copyright law.
However, if you want to use the image commercially, you may be subject to suit by identifiable people in the photo as violating their Right to Publicity. Using such photography – taking photographs of people for use commercially, implicates the rights of others beyond your copyright claim.
For example, this right may come into play when a photographer is taking innocuous photographs of Sylvester Stallone in public spaces and then prints and sells 10,000 posters. While copyright law protects your legal rights in a photograph taken in public, the commercial use of the image could violate the individual’s Right to Publicity.
Analysis of Right of Publicity
Whether such a violation occurs is often a question of fact and degree for the court to determine. A close-up photograph of Sylvester Stallone on a poster is a clear-cut example. In contrast, a photo of Times Square in New York with 1,000 people in the image, with Sylvester Stallone hidden in the crowd, is less likely a violation.
Right of publicity is a complete topic; you can learn more about the Right of Publicity here.
Rights of Others to Not Be Photographed
Generally, you can photograph anyone in a public area, as there is no expectation of privacy in public. However, there are times when others have the right not to be photographed. For example, if you want to photograph in a private place, such as someone’s home or inside a business not open to the public, then you need the permission of the owner of that private place. You must abide by the property owner’s rules.
Reasonable Expectation of Privacy
If you want to photograph people in a situation where they have a “reasonable expectation of privacy,” you also need their permission. This might include using a telephoto lens to take photographs through someone’s window into their home or taking photos of people in the dressing room of a clothing store.
If you violate someone else’s rights by taking their photograph without permission, they can sue you for damages. In some cases, they may also be able to get an injunction to stop you from using the photograph.
Others Cannot Take Your Photography Equipment Even if on Private Property
If you are in a public place and someone objects to the photographs you are taking, they cannot legally take your photography equipment. This also applies if you are on private property with the owner’s permission and someone objects to your photographs. In both cases, the person objecting to your pictures would have to obtain a court order to have your equipment seized.
While they might have a claim against you if you are (for example) violating their privacy, they do not have the right to seize your camera, film, or storage device.
Right to Take Photos Regarding Government Buildings and Employees
In general, you have the right to take photographs of public monuments, government buildings, and government officials.
You have the right to take photographs in public places. Laws and regulations may limit those rights in certain situations, such as where there are national security concerns or concerns for the safety of children. For example, you generally cannot take photographs of military bases.
Local or Airport Regulations
Many are surprised to learn that transportation facilities, such as airline security checkpoints, publicly operated airports, and other areas within an airline security context, have regulations – and law enforcement officers – enforcing such a restriction on behalf of airport authorities. Rules are often created based on local or airport regulations. The Transportation Security Administration may also have regulations regarding photography.
Federal Buildings and Other Government Buildings
You also may not be able to take pictures of certain government buildings that are not open to the public or portions of structures where access is restricted. Police officers performing legitimate law enforcement operations, may prevent photography, as well as video and audio records from being created out of security concerns.
Additionally, many public school districts do not allow photography of children within the classroom out of concerns for child safety.
If you are unsure whether you can take photographs in a particular situation, you should ask for permission first.
Other government officials may also create rules, whether impacting federal buildings, transportation facilities under legal authority, exercising government power, which impose restrictions and such rules which you may not expect, which impact your rights under copyright laws.
Bottom Line
Photographers need to be aware of their rights. You may have questions about whether you can take a particular photograph or whether a third party violated your rights as a photographer under copyright laws.
Contact the copyright lawyers at Sanders Law Group, who can provide legal counsel on your rights and help protect you against violations.
Call our lawyers today at 888-348-3090 for a free consultation.
