What’s
Mine
is
Yours?
–
Understanding
Photo
Copyright
Laws
and
Ownership
o ? c i a l
t h a t
t r u l y
meet
if
the
porfolio
is
O ne
evening,
understands
copyright
c o n s i d e r e d
“ a
while
working
as
a
legal
assistant,
I
sat
down
and
for
no
parAcular
reason,
decided
that
the
United
States
Copyright
Act
of
1976
(also
commonly
referred
to
as
Title
17
of
the
United
States
Code)
would
make
for
good
reading.
It
is
because
I
have
actually
read
this
long,
dry
volume,
that
I
can
address
a
point
of
g r o w i n g
c o n c e r n
regarding
ownership
and
u s a g e
o f
p h o t o s
–
speci?cally
photos
taken
by
photographers
for
models.
First,
I
want
to
assure
you
that
these
laws
are
clearly
spelled
out
in
the
copyright
code,
with
absolutely
no
gray
areas.
Second,
I
want
to
say,
if
you
are
geong
y o u r
a n s w e r s
f r o m
Internet
sources
that
allow
members
of
the
general
public
to
provide
a d v i c e ;
m o d e l i n g
w e b s i t e s ;
o r
s o c i a l
websites,
(or
if
you
doubt
t h i s
a r A c l e ’ s
interpretaAon),
then
you
should
really
speak
with
a
copyright
lawyer
or
other
Modern Model
law.
There
is
a
growing
belief
among
models
that,
if
the
model
pays
the
p h o t o g r a p h e r
f o r
a
photograph,
the
model
owns
the
copyright
to
the
photo
–
nothing
could
be
further
from
the
truth.
According
to
the
United
States
Copyright
Act,
in
s i m p l e s t
t e r m s ,
t h e
person
who
takes
the
photograph
inherently
owns
the
copyright
to
the
p h o t o ,
u n l e s s
t h e
photographer
is
fully
employed
by
an
agency
that
he/she
is
taking
the
photo
for.
In
such
a
case
(which
usually
refers
to
a
magazine
or
newspaper
photographer),
the
hiring
agency
would
own
the
rights.
Beyond
that,
there
are
few
excepAons.
In
all
other
cases,
in
order
for
a
model
to
own
the
rights
to
the
photos
as
a
work
for
hire
(where
the
model
pays
the
photographer
for
the
photos),
they
must
meet
n i n e
s p e c i ? c
requirements
outlined
by
the
copyright
law
(which
modeling
photos
could
Page 25
c o n t r i b u A o n
t o
a
c o l l e c A v e
w o r k , ”
however,
it
also
requires
that
the
parAes
“expressly
a g r e e
i n
a
w r i ] e n
instrument
signed
by
them
that
the
work
shall
be
considered
a
work
made
for
hire.”
In
other
words,
beyond
a
model
release,
unless
you
speci?cally
have
a
wri]en
statement
from
the
photographer
that
he/she
is
releasing
the
copyright
to
you
as
a
work
for
hire,
or
releasing
the
rights
under
some
other
provision,
you
l e g a l l y
d o
n o t ,
a n d
cannot,
claim
copyright
ownership.
B e f o r e
y o u
g e t
enArely
upset
over
this,
consider
that,
in
the
case
o f
a
w e d d i n g ,
t h e
photographer
is
almost
always
paid
(usually
a
f a i r l y
h i g h
a m o u n t ) ,
speci?cally
to
photograph
the
wedding.
If
payment
determined
copyright,
then
the
bride
and
groom
would
own
the
copyright
to
their
wedding
photos
and
videos,
and
students
would
own
the
copyright