Last week I wrote about the difference between the copyright of a photograph and the license to use the photograph.
This week I would just like to briefly cover the subject of a photographer’s copyright over his images and why they would usually insist on retaining it.
Because it’s the Law
As the ‘author’ of a photograph a photographer has copyright over that photograph under law (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988).
When you employ a photographer to capture your wedding the copyright is not something you would usually need or want to purchase. In the vast majority of cases a bride would be expecting to receive prints, album(s), a disc containing the image files or a mixture of all three. In the case of image files your photographer would usually grant you a license to make printed copies from those files so you can obtain enlargements for yourself.
Stop Internet Thieves
Last week’s article listed the uses you can make of the image files your photographer supplies you with and these, simply put, mean printing and making albums for you and your friends and family on a non-profit basis.
The last use I listed was ‘posting on social media’ which is Facebook etc. and for this most photographers would usually ask for a credit or preferably that you use images with their logo or name watermarked on top. This is to make it less likely that your wedding photographs will be copied by other people and used without the photographer’s (or your) permission.
Unfortunately this does happen and once an image is online it is relatively easy to copy. The disc of images I give my brides contains two folders; one with all the images at high resolution ready for printing and the second with ‘web ready’ files that have a discreet watermark on them. Obviously there is nothing to stop my clients using the high res files for use on their websites but most understand the reasons for protecting their wedding photographs from online thieves.
What Can My Photographer Do?
Another question that gets raised by brides is how their photographer may use their wedding photographs after the wedding. Generally speaking the photographer has the right to use his images for marketing and advertising purposes including (but not limited to) website and portfolio use. When you think about it, if a wedding (or any other) photographer didn’t use photographs from his past commissions at all then how would you or anybody looking for a photographer be able to judge their work?
I have only come across a handful of clients who really didn’t want their images used at all (mostly celebrities or members of the armed forces) and as it is such a rare occurrence I’m happy to agree as I have plenty of other past work that I can use.
Your photographer can’t use your photographs for other purposes (i.e. not related to self-marketing) without obtaining your permission first.
Ask Your Photographer
If you have any doubts about what you can do with your photographs (or indeed what your photographer can) then my advice would be to discuss it with your photographer at your consultation.
Lloyd Dobbie captures wedding photography in London and across the UK and Europe. You can see his wedding portfolio here on his website.
