Photo copyright question

[map]

Hi,
Santa was kind to me this year and I got a new digital SLR (ok, in reality the credit card got maxed out )

Have been taking photos of my lads rugby matches that have also been appearing in the local press. I upload to Flickr so the lads & parents can have a look. Only asking as it came up in conversation, hadn't really thought about it in the past.

So a quick question for the photographers on here is can they just carry on using these and do I have any copyright/control. Have tried looking on other sites but I just got confused.

Pictures were not sold and I don't make anything from them - perhaps I should but at the moment I'm looking at it as practice and building up experience.

I have found an interesting utility to add watermark/© text if required (FastStone Photo Resizer), but do newspapers use pictures if this is included?


Thanks in anticipation
____________________
...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[craigie b]

You own copyright on the pictures as you took them with your own equipment.

You can ask the paper to stop using your pictures, or pay a royalty fee or, simply get some acknowledgement for taking the pictures.

To be honest, its a bit of a hard neck just using them without even an acknowledgement.

[Dalemac]

If its got the copyright logo they cant use it without permission. If you dont have a copyright logo or a bit of text stating the photo's are copyrighted to you, i guess they are free to be used by anyone.
____________________
YBR125 -> GPZ500S -> SL1000

[UnknownStuntm...]

Why don't you 'donate' the copyright to the local rugby club for use on their website?

[Kickstart]

Hi

Have they done this with your permission? If not then my understanding is that they have broken the copyright laws.

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[craigie b]

[veeeffarr]

[craigie b]

If you take it or draw it or make it, on your own equipment then its yours and for others to use it they have to seek the owners permission.

[Zen Dog]

I was under the impression that when you upload photo's to Flickr, or videos to youtube etc., you are giving up your copyright to that media. I may be wrong though, probably worth checking the terms and conditions.

Zen Dog
____________________
Current - '94 VFR750FR (Dead), '00 VFR800FI, 2011 CBF125 Previous - '10 Street Triple R, '92 MZ ETZ301, '05 TTR250, NSR125R, KMX125, "Honda" Win (chinese copy of an old Honda design with a C90 engine)
My bike trip around S.E. Asia 2010/2011

[NexusDragon]

As far as I know, you own all copyrights on things that you have created, whether its literal or photographic etc. Even if you write a novel, it still belongs to you as 'Intelectual Property'.

You should still include a Copyright symbol on all your work, as this will cover the general basis of anyone stealing what rightfully belongs to you. If your doing it as a profession, you can go the next level and purchase a copyright agreement which seals all your works/writings/ideas by government copyright laws. You should only do this though if your selling photos (or anything else) on a big-time basis, say to big companies. If they f*ck you over, you can legally sue them becuase you own the copyright certificate.


As for things like Youtube and Flickr etc, it says in the agreement that anything you submit on their website, they may use it without your permission and you will have no rights on what they do with it. Be careful! If newspapers are using your photos, they should atleast publish your name to show you took the photograph, afterall, you own it. They should not publish anything without your prior permission.
____________________
DAS Passed 19th April 08. 07' YBR125 > Yamaha FZ6 S2 '08 > 1998 YZF600R ThunderCat

[Dalemac]

I stand corrected....



But, what if, i say produced an image at college on the college pc's...who would own the copyright then...
____________________
YBR125 -> GPZ500S -> SL1000

[st3v3]

[queen of string]

There may also be a (totally over the top imo) child protection issue if "your lad" and his mates are children. For most Pics of under 16s you now need to get the parents' permissionto take photos, especially if they're going to be reproduced. Personally I never thought pedos were into rugby pics, but the laws/advice changed and now cover everything afaik.
____________________
"Eat food, not edible, food-like items. Mostly plants."

[map]

[NexusDragon]

"Q. Anything without a copyright notice is not protected

A. Copyright will apply whether there is a copyright notice or not. In the US, a notice was required to retain copyright on works published before January 1st 1978, but this was the exception not the norm, and is certainly no longer the case. Also, once the US signed up to the Berne convention, US law was amended, and the use of copyright notices became optional on work published from March 1st 1989.

Having said this, it is still certainly worth placing a copyright notice on your work. A copyright notice reminds others that copyright exists, and may therefore help to deter infringement."

Yeh.. I take photos myself sometimes, I dont want children to be in the shot, I'm only 22 but I dont want anyone thinking I'm some sort of pedo becuase I'm pointing a camera at their kids, especially when its in a public place. I'd rather stay clear of the subject entirely.

I was taking pictures of a car accident once, the police asked me to stop - I spoke with the owner of one of the vehicles and got his permission to shoot. It was done under the pretences of photographic evidence for an insurance claim. The police were a bit annoyed though becuase the car was blatently a write-off.
____________________
DAS Passed 19th April 08. 07' YBR125 > Yamaha FZ6 S2 '08 > 1998 YZF600R ThunderCat

[Kickstart]

Hi

If you want to do bulk resizing and put an image overlay on then Irfanview will do it.

Each time you save as a jpeg you loose a bit of quality. Might be best to take the initial images and save them as tiffs (or just take in raw format) before doing the playing, then convert to jpeg at the end.

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[iooi]

[Annabella]

[craigie b]

[Silver]

There's a fair amount of mis-information in this thread. It's a confusing subject with many, many grey areas...

The newspaper should not be using the shots without your permission. However, some website's T&Cs have clauses stating that you agree to them having copyright over uploaded images (I think Facebook does, for example).

Newspapers will not publish images that are submitted with watermarks.

If you do plan to submit to the local paper then ask for payment immediately. Do not take the attitude that you'll ask them after a while, when you think you're worth it. They won't pay (they'll potentially just look for someone else who is "just practicing"). This subject is a bone of contention amongst all sports photographers. Imagine if you lost your job because someone was willing to do it for free.

The absolute ownership of copyright is not as straight forward as "I took the pictures with my kit, therefore I own the copyright". For example, if you are on private property then you need to seek permission to take pictures. To put this into a real-world scenario, if you take pictures at a bike race then the circuit owns the Copyright to the picture - not you.

[rovens]

Just put a low opacity layer with your name across the photos in photoshop, people can still view them but they will be useless for print.