Hearing from people who make a living selling their creative work might help clarify things. When I sell one of my photographs, I have legal and contractual obligations to my client. My clients buy photos from professionals to protect themselves from lawsuits over copyright and trademark infringement.
As a photographer, I acquire any legally required permissions necessary to full ownership and sale. I acquire ownership, through written documentation.
Legally, each one of us owns our “image”. We also own our children’s “image” until the age of 18, when ownership rights transfer to our children. This also applies to our dependents such as aging parents or disabled adults over 18. Without your permission, no one has a right to sell, or use your image in their logo or advertisement, or your story here on Medium. Even if you took that photo of me yourself, you have no right to sell it, or use it, without my written permission. You do not own my image and I do not own your image.
When you think about it, legally protecting your image makes sense. For example, I would not agree to a photographer selling a photo of me with unzipped pants (that I knew nothing about). I would not agree to a photographer selling a photo of me weighing 200 pounds in the worst bathing suit ever. I would not agree to a photographer selling a picture of me delivering my babies. I would not agree to my ex selling nude photos of me on the internet.
I don’t know any creatives who have NOT endured a lawsuit or two over the right to their own work. There are 2 basic steps required to “own” a photograph.
One, any people in my photo have signed the right to “their” image in that photo over to me. This includes people captured on film on the streets, parks, swimming pools, the beach, ski slopes, national parks, shopping malls, grocery stores, private homes, yards and driveways etc. It includes people’s children and dependents.
Two, the owner of any personal property in my photo have signed the right to that photo over to me – this includes everything from dogs, cats, horses, pigs, cattle, homes, yards, flower gardens, farms, ranches, cars, trucks, logos, signs, fences, jewelry and hairstyles to businesses, etc. This sounds wrong, until you remember that some people invest a fortune in these things. You don’t know if this is a show animal, or high value breeding stock,. I have clients who sell exclusive image rights of their homes, gardens, etc. to film companies. If you photograph these properties you are violating a contract that is way beyond your means to fix.
If you remember that people own their own image, and the image of anything they own, you will be fine.
You can photograph a crowd, but if you crop that photo to just one person, you must have their permission to sell it or use it. You can take a group photo of your kid’s graduation, but if you sell it, or use it for your Medium story, or any other money-making venture, you must have the written permission of every child’s parent in that photo first.
Before signing away the rights to their image, a lot of people will retain some of their usage rights – for example, no cropping, no touch-up, no photo-altering, limited usage time and/or full image usage only (which means you cannot show only one of their body parts, like pumped up abs, pimples, scars, stretch marks, tattoos or big breasts).
Photographers know the law and they work within the law. For example, I know where the line between public and private property is. If you crop one of my landscape photos, you could crop out the part of the photo than made it compliant with the law.
Copyright laws protect people from having their “image” shown out of context, or a context they did not anticipate or approve – like a story about fat people, ugly people, Karens, people with mental illness, racism, etc. Or a billion-dollar corporation using an image of an employee or a customer for an ad campaign without permission or compensation (that’s why they use models). I’ve sold creative work that increased my client’s sales by tens of millions, so copyright infringement is a genuine and serious form of theft.
Heck, one of America’s biggest complaints with China is copyright infringement – stealing creative work without permission or compensation.
Take note. Intellectual property is the same thing as creative work – including the work of writers. The work of writers is what plagiarism is all about. Plagiarism is stealing creative work. Here on Medium, there are a couple dozen writers who plagiarize like crazy. Near as I can tell, these writers copy anyone they see getting lots of likes and followers. Be careful folks, the point at which this becomes illegal is a very thin line.
In copyright law, original creative work has the same protections as your “image” or the “image” of your child or possessions. Original creative work is private property – that’s why people and businesses pay creatives so darned much money for original work. If we created it, we own it. If we own it, we have the legal right to sell it.
As a photographer, I take thousands of photos for every one that I sell. I am after one high value shot that will earn me money. But there are still some really good unsold photos. I sell these photos in bulk to a creative commons company that does the marketing and managing and sends me a few cents from time to time. But I retain some of my usage rights. If I see one of my photos on a story that repulses me, I have retained the right to have my photo removed. If a writer alters my photo, I have the right to have it removed. In other words, I retain the right to protect myself from thoughtless and careless people.
You can tell which photographers are professionals, by the usage rights they retain and the price of usage. You cannot use a photo on your story, even one hour longer than agreed on – in advance. If you used any photos on your stories, with an expiration date, remove them on time.
When you take photos of other people, or their possessions, get written permission granting you usage rights. Don’t go to the dog park and photograph other people’s dogs. Don’t photograph other people’s children, their homes, or yards etc. Don’t photograph strangers in a restaurant.
In a courtroom, no judge will care if you did NOT know that the horse you stopped on the side of the road to take a photo of for your Medium story, was a ten million dollar race horse. You photographed someone else's property and that is copyright infringement and you must compensate the owner. If that race horse was out to pasture due to ill health, you could be liable for a whole hell of a lot of money.
Think before you shoot.
