FINAL PROJECT: The Questions

THE QUESTIONS:

1. What do I do if someone copies my images off my website and uses  them on their website or facebook page without my permission?
2. In photography, when do you need a model release?
3. In photography, when do you need a property release?
4. The domain name of my website expired and someone in Russia bought the domain name. They then took the text of my website, but not the photographs, and put it on their website of the that name, is that legal?
5. In that example, what is the legal remedy? I contacted the ISP and they said I needed a court order for them to take down my copyrighted material. Is that correct?
6. Since I never ‘registered’ the material on the website, would that mean its too late to claim copyright infringement in that case?
7. Say you are making a picture and you download someone else’s picture off the internet to use as the sky for your picture, for example, is this a violation of copyright law?
8. For registration purposes, is a low resolution copy of a picture considered to be the same picture as the high resolution original or are these considered to be two separate works of art? Does every change to a picture that is saved effectively create a separate picture?
9. Are you permitted to take photographs of trademarked items without the consent of the company that who owns that trademark. Like for example, a photo of a coke bottle?
10. If I sell someone a print of my photograph, do they have a right to make a copy of it? Does the picture have to be registered in order to be protected?

These questions are of interest to me because they directly affect my ability to take and use photographs, which will be my livelihood as a photographer when I graduate. The specific concepts involved are, copyright, copyright registration, timeliness of copyright, model releases, property releases, published works, unpublished works, derivative works, and trademarks.