FINAL PROJECT: Your Own Argument and Opinions

 YOUR OWN ARGUMENT AND OPINIONS

(Note: AQ designates my lawyer, Aminah Qureshi, quotes from her are in red)

      It seems on some rules, the law is clear, on others, the law is more open to interpretation, hence the need for lawyers. One of the basic issues I posed was, should I register all my photographs? "Copyright is an automatic right and does not require you, the photographer to file special paperwork. Registration, however, is required to enforce the rights of the photographer. When a photo is not registered with the US Copyright Office prior to an infringement (or within three months of the first publication of the photo), a copyright owner may recover only “actual damages” for the infringement (pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 504 (b)), instead of statutory damages." – (AQ)

So from this I conclude that it is probably a good idea for me to register my photographs, to get the full benefits of copyright protection.

People do not have the right to copy your photographs, even if you sell them prints because "As the creator of art, the copyright owner has the exclusive rights to the art for purposes such as reproduction." – (AQ)

However, they are allowed to use them for a fair use: "Fair Use is a legal exception to the exclusive rights an owner has for his or her copyrighted work. The purpose of the Fair Use Doctrine is to allow for limited and reasonable use as long as the use does not interfere with the owners’ rights or impede their right to do the work as they wish." – (AQ)

"Reasonableness is a subjective standard. Therefore, if you as the photographer believe there has been an infringement of your rights, via your photograph, your photograph must: 1) have been registered in order to enforce your rights and 2) if/when litigation is brought it will be up to the discretion of a judge or jury to determine whether owner’s rights are impeded." – (AQ)

Another issue that came up was the issue of when you do and don’t need model releases. "Following industry standards, for any work that is will appear in consumer or trade magazines, newspapers, or educational books, you generally do not need a model release. This is also true of photographic exhibits. These are considered educational/informational uses. However, for photos that will be used in commercial applications – ads, brochures, posters, greeting cards, catalogs, poster cards, kiosks, trade shows, web sites, etc. you will need a release from your subject in order to be “legal.” "— (AQ)

It would seem that just to be on the safe side, it would be best to get model releases wherever possible for any pictures of people so that you can sell the photograph in the future.

"You don’t need a release for pictures of public property, such as government buildings (although you may run into problems just from photographing them, for security reasons)." – (AQ)

"For images of private property you are safer if you get a release." – (AQ)

For pictures of trademarked items, you are probably ok because "the use of trademarked items is only prohibited if it would confuse someone as to the origin or authenticity of a product." – (AQ).

             I learned a lot from this project and I can see the need to be aware of the laws and have a lawyer or know how to get one in case of any legal issues.