But just as photography has changed, so has copyright law. There have been three revisions in the last 100 years – in 1911, 1956 and 1988. Each time the law was updated, changes were made to copyright ownership and copyright duration.
But, good news! Under the the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, artists and photographers enjoy the most creator-friendly copyright legislation to date.
Who owns the copyright?
Well, it depends on when the photograph was taken. Before the 1988 law, photographers didn’ t always own the copyright in their work automatically. In the previous copyright laws, if the photograph was commissioned by someone, it would be the commissioner – not the photographer – who owned the copyright in that photograph.
The 1911 law also had a provision that the person or company who owned the negatives – remember those? – at the time they were made was‘ considered to be’ the author of the photograph.
Copyright reform in 1988 changed this, recognising the importance of rights staying with creators. Since the 1988 law, copyright is now owned generally by the person who created the work, or by an employer if the work is created in the course of employment.
How long does copyright last?
For photographs taken after the 1988 Act became law – on 1 August 1989 – copyright will last for the life of the creator plus seventy years. But many photographers may have works produced under the previous copyright regime. The previous laws only gave a copyright term of fifty years after the photograph was taken. To deal with this shift, the law made extra provisions depending on factors such as whether the photos were published, or the date the photographer died.
If you are a photographer, or the beneficiary of a photographer, and the photographs were taken before 1989, you can figure out when copyright expires based on the following, issued by DACS( www. bit. ly / DACS-copyright):
Photographs taken on or after 1 January 1996 These are automatically protected for the life of the photographer plus seventy years.
Photographs taken on or after 1 August 1989 but before or on 31 December 1995 These were originally protected under the 1988 Act for the life of the photographer plus fifty years. Copyright in these works has now been extended by the 1995 Regulations and are now protected for the life of the photographer plus seventy years.
Photographs taken between 1 June 1957 and 31 July 1989 The length of copyright protection for photographs created in this period depends on whether they had been published as at 1 August 1989.
( a) Photographs published before 1 August 1989 Where the photographer died more than twenty years before publication, copyright will expire fifty years after first publication. In all other cases, copyright will expire seventy years after the death of the photographer.
( b) Photographs which remained unpublished as at 1 August 1989 Where the photographer died before 1 January 1969, copyright expires on 31 December 2039. In all other cases, copyright will expire seventy years after the death of the photographer.
Photographs made before 1st June 1957 These photographs were originally protected for a period of fifty years from the end of the calendar year in which they were taken( regardless of whether they were published).
If the photograph was still in copyright as of 1 July 1995 however, the period of copyright was extended to the life of the photographer plus seventy years. If copyright protection had expired before 1 July 1995, there was still the chance to“ revive” the photograph. An eligible photograph would then be protected by the new term, i. e. the photographer’ s life plus seventy years.
DACS and Payback
All the above is based on information issued by the Design and Artists Copyright Society. Any‘ photographic’ Guild member who is not already subscribed to DACS should rectify that as soon as possible. It’ s no big deal and will earn you cash in the form of what they call‘ Payback’.
Payback is an annual scheme run by DACS which distributes royalties to visual artists and estates for the re-use of their copyright-protected work in UK books, magazines and TV programmes.
It’ s worth it! In 2017, 38,000 artists received a share of over £ 4 million.
Copyright advice for members
As a Copyright Licensing or Artist’ s Resale Right member of DACS you can take advantage of their free copyright advice service for these members.
Disclaimer The content of this article is offered as a general guide to the issues surrounding copyright and is not intended to apply to individual circumstances. It does not constitute legal advice, it is not a substitute for independent legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. You should seek specialist advice for any specific circumstances.
This article is prepared( with permission) using material supplied by DACS, 33 Old Bethnal Green Road, London E2 6AA. Tel: 020 7336 8811; www. dacs. org. uk. It is drawn from an original DACS Newsletter feature Copyright uncovered: What do I need to know about copyright and photographers? summer 2018 | Outdoor focus 11