Copyright issues in photography, specific considerations that apply to photographers.

1. Who owns the copyright on photographs?

   Under law, it is the photographer who will own copyright on any photos he/she has taken, with the following exceptions:

   • If the photographer is an employee of the company the photos are taken for, or is an employee of a company instructed to take the photos, the photographer will be acting on behalf of his/her employer, and the company the photographer works for will own the copyright.

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

   In all other cases, the photographer will retain 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/images. The copyright to the photos will remain with the photographer, and therefore any reproduction without permission would be an infringement of copyright.

   Examples:

   • If Bill Smith asks Peter Jones the photographer to photograph his wedding. Peter Jones will normally provide a single copy of the prints as part of the fee, but any additional prints Bill or his family and friend want must be ordered via Peter as he is the copyright owner and controls who can copy his work.

   • If Bill Smith engages the services of XYZ-Photos for the same job, and Peter is an employee of XYZ-Photo who instruct Peter to take the photos, XYZ-Photos will be the copyright owner and control how they are used.