Commissioned shoot, who owns copyright of images?

nilhg

I was reading a thread on another forum, and one of the things which caught my attention was an Australian and a Canadian member both said that in their countries the person who pays a commision owns the copyright to all images produced at that shoot, whereas the US members say that they retain copyright and the fee covers only the sale of prints.

Whats the position here?


Synopsis of linked thread: Woman pays photographer $45 for 3 prints of her daughter in confirmation outfit, is not happy with preview and demands money back even though she has a CD with all shots from shoot.

mathias

Im not sure who owns the copyright here , but when I do work for someone , I never let any form of it out of my hands unless Im personally happy with it ,

Here ,in this country its a huge mistake to give anyone any form of Digital / printed work until they cough up , I dont even give out contact shots until Im paid ,

There are many many cases of photographers giving out CD's of 72 dpm shots for the couple to pick an album from and then never hearing from them again ! Happy with the free CD and not paying for the photos !

This case is just a Dragon who got a free CD and is now pushing her look trying to get the money back as well , she probably figured he was dumb enough to give her the CD maybe hes just dumb enough to give the money back as well.

The first couple of wedding I did , I learned my lessons the hard way , now I never give anyone a CD , ever , I used to think there was no harm in it , then crap inkjet prints and rubbishy photoshop jobs started doing the rounds , not good for me at all. Now they get watermarked 72dpm contact sheets , and a Professionally printed album , never a CD , ever !

If they want , they can scan the damn album , CD's just give too many options for people to badly represent your work!

Thirdfox

I *think* in Ireland the situation is such that while working under someons you do not own the copyright/IP rights e.g. employee for Pfizer who discovers cure for cancer can't market it themselves - it belongs to the company.

You can however specifically contract out of this but this should be done before the shoot.

Paulw

As a photographer, you own the copyright.

This would only change if you are an employee of a company and take the images as part of your job.

In Australia, if you are engaged as a photographer (such as a wedding shoot), then the person who engages you (the couple) would own the rights to the images.

This is not the case in Ireland, thankfully.

TJM

I've discussed these issues in depth here:
http://www.tjmcintyre.com/2007/06/copyright-in-custom-code-who-owns.html

(Article primarily relates to software, but largely the same principles apply to photography.)

Thirdfox

Interesting article! Certainly helped me remember some of my IP law classes back in China

Paulw

I think the OP is referring to such things as -

http://4020.net/words/photorights.php

http://www.copyright.org.au/information/specialinterest/visart.htm

Along the lines of -

If the photograph was commissioned (by agreement and for money) for a "private or domestic purpose" — such as a family portrait or wedding or birthday party — then the client owns copyright, unless there is agreement to the contrary.

My understanding is that this is NOT the case under Irish law?

DadaKopf

I'm sure it's like standard graphic design contracts. You're hired by a company to provide a service. You provide that service, assuming it's created using your own equipment, and license your intellectual property to them for a fee.

The safest way is to draw up a contract stating what the case is. You could say "all photographs remain the sole intellectual property of PHOTOGRAPHER'S NAME" and specify the terms of license like, "CLIENT NAME/COMPANY is permitted to reproduce WHATEVER IMAGES for (e.g. publication, in promotional material) for duration of HOWEVER LONG". Then say something like, "the photographs may be released and used by the CLIENT on payment of a license fee" etc.

Of course you *could* transfer all rights over to the client, but then you lose your intellectual property.

If it's in a contract and signed, it's enforcable by law, and they can be tailored to measure.