This has to be my photograph (I own the rights to it as professional material)?

ClickAddict · Sep 7, 2011

Skieur, In the US that is correct. In Canada where you (we) live, the rules are different. Unless they changed since the last I read we have an unusual ownership rule here. Sections 10(2) and 13 of Canada's Copyright Act pretty much say that the person who owns the negative of the photograph, the physical object from which the photograph is taken,(in today's age interpreted as Memory card) is also deemed to be the author and copyright holder of that photograph. S. 13(2) adds that where a photograph is commissioned by someone else, that person is assumed, unless there is “any agreement to the contrary,” to be the owner of copyright in the photograph. There have been some disputes with privacy issues and such lately so it could be these rules have been ammended somewhat.

Forkie · Sep 7, 2011

I'm pretty sure that from post #7, this thread no longer makes any sense whatsoever.

KmH · Sep 7, 2011

ClickAddict said:
Skieur, In the US that is correct.

Which is appropo, since apparently the OP is in the US, skieur made no direct reference to Canadian copyright, and no one before skieur had posted in the thread that was from somewhere other than the US.

Mike_E · Sep 7, 2011

Hey, you could always claim that it was work for hire.

And if you weren't getting a divorce before...

ClickAddict · Sep 7, 2011

KmH said:
ClickAddict said:

Skieur, In the US that is correct.

Click to expand...

Which is appropo, since apparently the OP is in the US, skieur made no direct reference to Canadian copyright, and no one before skieur had posted in the thread that was from somewhere other than the US.

Agreed, but skieur never specifically stated "in US" and as Skieur is from Canada, I just wanted to point out to him, in case he did not know, that the rules were different where he lived. I opted not to mention the Candian rule when I first read this thread as I agree it does not pertain to the OP, but since I noticed skieurs post, I figured it might be benificial to him or to anyone else from Canada who might see skieurs post and think the same rules applied North of the border.

skieur · Sep 7, 2011

ClickAddict said:
KmH said:

ClickAddict said:

Skieur, In the US that is correct.

Click to expand...

Which is appropo, since apparently the OP is in the US, skieur made no direct reference to Canadian copyright, and no one before skieur had posted in the thread that was from somewhere other than the US.

Click to expand...

Agreed, but skieur never specifically stated "in US" and as Skieur is from Canada, I just wanted to point out to him, in case he did not know, that the rules were different where he lived. I opted not to mention the Candian rule when I first read this thread as I agree it does not pertain to the OP, but since I noticed skieurs post, I figured it might be benificial to him or to anyone else from Canada who might see skieurs post and think the same rules applied North of the border.

Thanks ClickAddict! In Canada the author is the person who owns the film or plate at the time when the photo was created or the owner of the initial photograph. Canadian copyright lawyers agree with Lesley Ellen Harris: another copyright lawyer who writes on the subject, that it is not clear and definite in Canadian law as to who is the author of a work. It is even worse in multi-media works.

As to commissioning a photo, in Canada, as a photographer you make sure that you have a contract agreeing to your copyright of the portrait.

In Canada or the US you may or may not hold the copyright to a photo taken during employment. If your job description involves taking photos, then the employer owns the copyright to them. If, however, you are for example a clerk, travelling salesman, teacher, etc., then YOU own the copyright to any photos taken during employment, since it is NOT part of your job.

Some employers get around this by a contract, or paying extra for a photo assignment outside regular work duties.

skieur