Image Copyright

[BillN]

Image Copyright

Can someone help with the basic legal position?
There is no need to get too legally “heavy” into the subject as all I am seeking are the general guidelines

Accepting any legal agreement to the contrary, is

Film
Presumably if you have the negative, either by taking the shot or buying it, you own the copyright to the image

Digital
How does this work with digital? Presumably if you took the shot and have the original digital file you own the copyright to the image. What happens if you send the original file to another person or body and a can a dispute arise?
Are there step one should take to “embed”, if that is the correct word, the file with some kind of info that cannot be removed?

Prints that you purchase
Can you legally reproduce these and display them

Thanks

 

[OzRay]

Unfortunately, the rules are different for each country, so any advice given has to reflect the copyright laws of the country. There will certainly be a copyright website, which specifically addresses photography, for each country. For Australia (for Australians) it's these:

- http://www.copyright.org.au/g011.pdf

- http://www.copyright.org.au/g035.pdf

Cheers

Ray

 

[Alan Wolf]

did a quick search

Here are some interesting links I just found, mainly pertaining to US though:

http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

I typically copyright any images I upload, but don’t bother with digimarking them, (which I think is probably the best way to protect images). Then, at least on Flickr, I use the creativecommons “non commecial” tag. I’ve had both non profits ask for permission to use images and commercial users ask about buying rights. Of course, I have no way of knowing if anyone has just used them for whatever purposes without asking permission. Maybe if I ever take something that I know has some obvious value I’ll be more careful.

http://info.yahoo.com/copyright/us/details.html

http://www.fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/entertainment/art/news.php?q=1208120459