My least favourite topic of all time. Copyright. How do you protect your intellectual property? Keep it to yourself. Never share a single image online. I’ve splashed watermarks allover my photos. Didn’t make a difference. Clients will steal the previews from their gallery and post them to their Facebook. People will steal your photos from Flickr and print them on canvas and send them to shopping malls allover the UK. People are selfish and we don’t always think about the chain reaction that can be set in place by our selfishness. We’re all pirates from time to time.
This post started with a question from a reader: “How, without going to an expensive lawyer, do you protect your intellectual property, copywrite etc and ensure you have permission to publish the photographs from your clients. I’ve been searching for what seems forever to find standard letters, contracts etc.”
The answer? Through your own hard work. There is literally no one out there to help you protect your work. There’s the Creative Commons group for creating licenses for your work. And there are laws regarding copyright. But in reality, there don’t seem to be any measures in place for upholding these laws, short of suing the thief in court. And thieves know this. I mean c’mon, short of our own morals or principles, who of us copies a CD for a friend and worries that they’re going to get arrested? It’s pretty much an honour system and when someone is dishonest and steals your stuff, it’s up to you the magnitude of the theft and it’s effect on you. And then you have to decide if it’s worth taking them to court. And if they’re stealing an image they couldn’t be bothered to buy the print for, they don’t likely have any money even if you DID win a lawsuit. The only scenario I can see this being worthwhile is if you caught your image in a prominent magazine or on a CD case or in a movie.
The second half of this question deals with to reverse scenario: Do WE have the right to publish THEIR face on our website? This is a grey area. Yes, the images are your property. But then, their face isn’t. Their kid isn’t. The easiest, most effortless way I deal with this is before a session, the client fills out a client info form with their name, address, phone and the date (the date is very important). Then at the bottom of the same sheet is one sentence: “I am happy for Elizabeth Halford, photographer to use the images resulting from this session online or in print.” If it’s a child session, they have to write the child(ren)s name next to their signature. I’ve never once had a client not sign this portion of the form and never once have I had a client unhappy with the images I have used.
For weddings, the release is on the contract they sign and hand in with their deposit.
I wish I had more to tell you. I wish I could say “call this number” when someone has stolen your work. The police will laugh you down on the phone if you call to report a stolen image (believe me. I’ve tried). Just stay on top of the petty crimes by making contact with clients who have used your images outside of the copyright agreement and don’t waste too much of your precious time chasing down stray images here and there. Time is money!
