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Our Blue IguanaIm just wondering if today I ask my friend to take photos of my bears and I did not pay her to take photos, will she still got much the right to declare this her own work? After all, she is the one who brain storm on the story or look. Does she have the right to put her works on magazines? Of course giving credit that the bears are mine that is...
just wondering how the photos right work....
thanks
:hug:
As a former photographer I can say ..... Yes, the photograph itself is her work regardless of whether or not she got paid for it. 
Yes Laura Lynn is right....the photographer is the owner and as such has rights on the pictures. She can't claim ownership of the content however ..but even if you paid her she still owns the copyright. She can publish them if she wishes.
Our Blue IguanaI thought so.. thanks for clearing it up because I really dont mind if she submit it on the magazine.. but she felt that its not her bears so might not be allowed...
thanks ladies :hug:
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Yes, she owns the Copyright, but the Good News is that she can assign the rights to you, by contract, whether it's Gratis (no money changes hands) or you pay her for the Copyright (whatever is satisfactory between the two of you) and then you will own the rights to do whatever you'd like to with the images.
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#toc
Transfer of Copyright
Any or all of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights or any subdivision of those rights may be transferred, but the transfer of exclusive rights is not valid unless that transfer is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed or such owner’s duly authorized agent. Transfer of a right on a nonexclusive basis does not require a written agreement.
Our Blue IguanaYes, she owns the Copyright, but the Good News is that she can assign the rights to you, by contract, whether it's Gratis (no money changes hands) or you pay her for the Copyright (whatever is satisfactory between the two of you) and then you will own the rights to do whatever you'd like to with the images.
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#toc
Transfer of Copyright
Any or all of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights or any subdivision of those rights may be transferred, but the transfer of exclusive rights is not valid unless that transfer is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed or such owner’s duly authorized agent. Transfer of a right on a nonexclusive basis does not require a written agreement.
thanks bobby... this have been a great help.. but if there are not written agreement between the photographer and me, so this would mean that the photographer can do as they please with the photos? Nothing i can do about it right? Do i have the right to insist that my name be place there on the photos?
is this only applicable in the USA and not in other countries? Are you a lawyer? 
because you know alot about this and knows it pretty well...
:hug:
Here is some info from the UK Intellectual Property Office that might help..I think this is pretty much the case worldwide too.
Ownership of photographs taken after 1 August 1989
The general rule about first ownership of copyright is that the author is the first owner.
If you create a copyright work, you become the 'author' so in the case of any photographs you take you are the first owner. However, an example where this may not be the case is if it was you who pressed the camera button and someone else who decided things like the camera angle, exposure and so on.
If you make a photograph with two or more people and each persons contribution to the photograph is not distinct, then you all become joint authors and joint first owners of copyright and the permission of each joint owner will be needed before such a photograph can be used.
This general rule about first ownership of copyright resting with the 'author' is, however, overridden in the case of photographs which are made by an employee in the course of employment; in this case, the employer is the first owner of copyright subject to any agreement to the contrary.
If you commission a photograph you will only be the copyright owner if there is an agreement to assign copyright to you.
If you commission a photograph for private and domestic purposes, since 1 August 1989 you generally have the right not to have the photograph exhibited in public or otherwise communicated to the public (such as by broadcasting) or copies of the photograph issued to the public.
