07/10/21 Miller Farm Wedding

Wedding at Miller Farm, Parkdale, OR

Wedding Photography from April and Andrew's wedding at Miller Farm in Parkdale, OR 07/10/21

Why Photographers keep the copyright.

This article will help you understand why photographers protect their work from being copied without permission.
If you are planning to hire a photographer for your wedding, make sure that he/she has retained the copyright of his/her images. It is not uncommon for photographers to give away the rights to their photos to clients after taking them. 
The photographer should retain the copyright of his/ her photographs because it gives him/her ownership of the pictures. A photographer who does not own the copyright of his/hers images cannot stop anyone from using those images without his/her consent. In fact, if the photographer does not retain the copyright of his images, then he/ she could be held liable for damages if someone uses those images without his/ her permission.
The best way to ensure that you get the copyright of your images is to ask the photographer before hiring him/her. You can find out whether the photographer retains the copyright of his/ hers images by asking him/her directly. If the photographer does not retain ownership of his/her images, then you should consider finding another photographer.
Ideally you should share the copyright with your photographer. This will allow you to use the photography from your wedding as you see fit to do so.

The Work Made For Hire Doctrine
Under the work made for hire doctrine of the Copyright Act, the photographer retains the copyright unless he or she expressly transfers it to another party. If the photographer does not transfer the copyright, then the photographer must retain the copyright. However, the photographer must still prove that he or she has the right to use the image under the Copyright Act.
In order to prove ownership of the copyright, the photographer must provide evidence that he or she owns the copyright. The photographer should keep records of who commissioned the photograph, what the terms of payment were, and whether the client paid for the rights to use the photo.
In addition to proving ownership of the copyright, a photographer must also prove that he or she had permission from the subject to take the picture. A signed release form is one way to show that the subject gave consent to be photographed. Another way to prove that the subject consented is if the photographer took the picture at a public event where the subject was participating.

The Author's Rights Act
In 1976, Congress passed the Copyright Act of 1976 (the "Act") to clarify the rights of authors with respect to their works. Section 201(a) of the Act provides that an author of a work made for hire is entitled to receive compensation for his or her contribution to the work. This section also states that the employer is considered the author's employer.
The Act defines a work made for hire as one prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment. A work made for hire includes works prepared by an independent contractor if the parties expressly agree that the work shall be considered a work made for hire. For example, if a photographer hires models to pose for him or her, then the models would be considered employees under the Act. However, if the photographer hires models to pose as a group, then the models would not be considered employees because there is no express agreement between the photographer and the models that the photographs will be considered works made for hire.

Fair Use
Under the fair use doctrine, courts will allow limited copying of copyrighted material without permission of the copyright owner when such copying meets certain criteria. These criteria include whether the purpose and character of the use is commercial or noncommercial; the nature of the copyrighted work; the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fair use doctrine allows for the limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. For example, if you want to create a video montage of images from a book, you would be allowed to copy those images into your own video. However, if you wanted to create a video montages of images from a movie, you would not be able to do so because the copyright holder has already granted permission for the use of the images.

What about my wedding photography from Modern Art Photograph
At Modern Art photograph all clients are provided with free use of any work created.
Robert Knapp is happy to create prints, albums and photo books for clients at any time.
Clients are not bound to use Modern Art Photograph for printing.
Clients can use the digital images as they see fit to do so.