Although some countries require works to be ‘of artistic merit’, in Australia, copyright protection applies automatically to all photographs from the moment the camera’s shutter button is pressed. It doesn’t matter whether they are taken by a professional photographer or Aunty Jane and you don’t need to register or publish the photo or apply a copyright notice – the protection is free and automatic. In addition, most copyright protection applies worldwide.

 

Although some countries require works to be ‘of artistic merit’, in Australia, copyright protection applies automatically to all photographs from the moment the camera’s shutter button is pressed. It doesn’t matter whether they are taken by a professional photographer or Aunty Jane and you don’t need to register or publish the photo or apply a copyright notice – the protection is free and automatic. In addition, most copyright protection applies worldwide.

If you’re not employed by a company or a client to take photographs for specific purposes, you are generally seen as the owner of the copyright in images you take. If take photographs for a company, copyright is usually owned by your employer. For commissioned family portraits and wedding photographs, the client is normally the first owner of copyright in the absence of an agreement to the contrary.

Your Rights

Both in Australia and internationally, copyright law prevents the publishing, distribution and even photocopying of a copyrighted work without the creator’s permission. Owners of copyright in photographs have the exclusive right to:

  • reproduce their photographs by making prints, photocopying, and digitising (scanning);
  • publish the photograph (make copies of the photographs available to the public for the first time); and
  • communicate the photograph to the public by putting the photographs onto a website, broadcasting or faxing them or emailing digital files of them.

You also have the moral right to:

  • be attributed as creator of your photographs;
  • take action if your work is falsely attributed; and
  • take action if your work is distorted or treated in a way that is prejudicial to your honour or reputation.

However, the Australian Copyright Act permits limited use of copyrighted material without permission, for example by reviewers, students, libraries, educational institutions and government bodies. In some cases, certain procedures must be followed, and in others, fees must be paid. Otherwise, if somebody reproduces or publishes your photograph (or part of your photograph) without your permission, claims it’s theirs or uses it in a way you would not sanction, they have infringed your copyright.

Copyright Protection

With so many digital images in general use, particularly on the internet, violation of copyright is almost inevitable, regardless of whether you’re an amateur or professional photographer. Consequently, all photographers who transmit images electronically should embed copyright information in the Exif metadata that is attached automatically to every digital photograph. When you open the image file in a suitable editor (we’ve used Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 for this demonstration but other capable editors can also be used), simply click on File Info to access the metadata and add your copyright details.

The first ‘page’ in the metadata file lets you fill in a ‘Description’ of the photograph and indicate its authorship and copyright status.

The second and third pages, covering Camera Data are automatically filled in by the camera. These pages hold details of the camera used for the shot plus the exposure settings (metering mode, lens focal length, aperture, shutter speed, ISO setting and whether flash or other adjustments were used). They also give the pixel dimensions and image resolution plus the colour space used for the shot.

The Categories page is designed mainly for press photographers. It lets you enter information based on Associated Press categories. The History page displays Adobe Photoshop history log information for images saved with Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

The Origin page, which is only found in Photoshop, lets you enter file information that is useful for news outlets, including when and where the file was created, transmission information, special instructions for handling the file, and headline information. You can also choose text from the menu to the right of the text fields.

IPTC Contact allows you to enter your contact details. This information can be saved by clicking on the arrow in the top right corner of the window so you can download it automatically whenever you need to enter this data for other images.

The IPTC Content page allows you to enter information about the content of the image, including keywords that can help to call up your photograph in search engines and IPTC subject codes that make it easier for picture editors to find shots about particular subjects.

The IPTC Image page allows you to enter a more detailed formal description of the image, including the date and location where it was created and its copyright status. All this data is designed to make your photograph easier to find by anyone who may wish to publish it (and purchase the right to do so from you) and protect your copyright.

The IPTC Status page allows you to enter workflow and (again) copyright information relating to the image. This page can be used when images are sent to publishers and printers to provide specific instructions on how the file should be handled.

The Advanced page displays fields and structures for storing metadata using name-spaces and properties, such as file format and XMP, EXIF, and PDF properties. In most cases, this page and the Adobe Stock Photos page above it can be ignored when entering data for your own photos.

Why is Copyright Identification Important?

Recently, the US Copyright Office suggested introducing legislation that would limit, or in some cases eliminate, the damages available against an infringer of an ‘orphan work’ – in other words, a work whose owner cannot be located ‘even after a reasonably diligent search conducted in good faith’. According to the Professional Photographers of America Association, this “would strip thousands of photographers and other visual artists of their rights” if it became law.

In the existing environment, where many published images are copied and recopied without permission, such a law would make it even harder for photographers to control how and where their images are published. It would also make it more difficult for photographers whose livelihoods depend on the pictures they sell to gain the credit (both financial and attributional) due to them when their pictures are published.

By embedding copyright and contact information in the metadata of each image file BEFORE it is published in any form, you make it less likely for your images to be considered ‘orphans’. You also make it easier to prosecute offenders, should one or more of your images be used without your permission.

Copyright Resources

The Australian Copyright Council (ACC) can supply information on all issues related to copyright and has an excellent Information Sheet (G11: Photographers and copyright), specifically for photographers, which can be downloaded free of charge. Go to www.copyright.org.au and click on Special Interest Areas and select Photographers from the drop-down menu for more information.