Copyright for Creatives
This was a lecture by Janet Jones who is a Journalism Lecturer at Glyndwr University. She began by explaining the law around intellectual property rights.
The Copyright & Design Patent Act of 1988 – covers patents, copyright design and trademarks. It prevents work being used by other people without permission. Gives the right and permission to use work and make money from it.
To have the copyright for a piece of work you need to be identified as the creator of products, skills, creativity and labour time. Copyright only protects original work and it must be derived from a creative effort. It comes into force as soon as the original work has been created. It doesn’t have to be applied for. There are a number of myths about copyright law.
Myths about copyright
1. Copyright can protect ideas.
To obtain a copyright the work must be tangible (ideas aren’t), although it is possible to obtain a patent for an idea. For example an idea for a book is not protected but the actual book is. Football fixtures were protected as copyright but this is currently under review. The AA was sued by Ordnance Survey for copying its maps to use as their own without permission. Ordnance Survey proved this case as errors in their maps were also copied by the AA. The AA had to pay £20m in damages.
In another case Creation Records who were creating the cover for a new Oasis album ‘Be Here Now’ had a Rolls Royce in a swimming Pool [Figure 1]. A journalist booked a hotel room at the venue and took a photo of the shoot and published it. Creative Records sued the newspaper but they lost the case as the judge ruled that the set was not a permanent fixture so therefore wasn’t covered by copyright law.
Names, titles, colours and short phrases cannot be copyrighted, although a combination of these can be. Copyright is a civil offence and therefore prison sentences are not given for breaching it. Copyright can be sold, given away as it’s an asset.
It includes
- Moral rights
- Paternity rights (as owner & creator)
- Integrity rights
- Intellectual rights to a creation (separate from physical artwork)
- To qualify for copyright a work must be original.
2. Post your work to yourself (recorded delivery) to prove copyright (this is also known as poor man’s copyright). This is tenuous if used in court but you can post the work by recorded delivery to a solicitor which is better, but there is likely to be a charge. However, the above is only a safeguard and not necessary to obtain copyright. One exception to this is if an individual works for a business and they retain all copyright in the course of your employment (unless alternative arrangements have been made).
More Legal bits
The 1988 act covers:
- Original literary, dramatic, music or artistic work. The copyright on these creatives lasts 70 years after the creators death.
- Film – Copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of all the creatives that contributed to the making of the film (For example, principal director, Author of screenplay, composer)
- Sound, film and video recordings – Copyright is valid for 70 years
- Broadcasts & Programmes – 50 years
- Typographic arrangements
- Computer programs
After these time periods the work is in the public domain. However users of the material still need to take care as there could be multiple copyrights for a piece of work. For example music is complicated, there are composers, artists and the recording label that may all own the copyright. PRS is used to copyright for music and when copyright is infringed. Material that is copied, lent, performed and/or played without permission is in breach of copyright.
3. Up to 10% of original material can be used without infringing copyright. Fair dealing/ use proviso is built into copyright this helps protect new reporting or critiques/review of material without causing a breach. The fair use proviso also covers educational, private study or research purposes providing they’re used for non-commercial purposes. However, there must always be sufficient acknowledgement of the author of the work. Copyright licensing agency can help. Fair dealing includes examples of recording something that has music playing in the background that is copyrighted or part of a photograph that includes copyrighted material. However even if the 10% that is used is the core part of the piece then this could still be seen as a breach of copyright. The best advice is to always ask for permission and give credit to the original author no matter how little of the material is used.
Remember: Any breach of copyright can lead to a civil action.
4. Everything on the internet is in the public domain and is therefore free to use (this is only true if the copyright has expired, see legal bits above). Unfortunately, work published on the internet can be copied easily and you may never know it has happened. However, it could be argued that the internet is the best platform to get work published. See Margaret Stewart – Copyright Digital Rights Eco-System on You Tube. There are however, some steps that can be taken to protect your work online (see below case studies).
Case Studies
Phil Barton Photographer, Pb Artworks
Has never come across copyright issues but takes some simple steps to protect his work. For example only using low resolution images online and adding watermarks.
Kirsteen Harris-Jones, Illustrator
Always checks the terms and conditions of a contract before signing it. Always ask questions, contracts can be confusing. In a contract she received a company wanted her to hand over copyright of a character she had created. She agreed to this as she needed the work. Unfortunately the publisher went bust and she was unable to publish any further work for this character as she no longer owned the copyright. It took many years to eventually get the copyright back. The overall recommendation is not to hand over the copyright at all, always use an agency and use licensing instead. If you do wish to sell the copyright then always ask for a higher fee.
David Atkinson, Travel Writer
Mail on Sunday used his work without permission.
Re-cap
- Copyright Act 1988
- Copyright is automatic
- Legal Rights to your original work
- Ask for advice if unsure
- Don’t lift anything without permission
- Always credit original author
- Respect your own and others copyright
I found this lecture extremely useful as I learned a lot about copyright and how I can apply it to my own work. It's important to know from a legal perpsective the rights I have over my work and how I can use other peoples work in my own.
Getting started in Photography
- Networking opportunities and advice
- Information (What's on, news, what to see)
- Events: Portfolio sessions, lectures, workshops, symposia and debate
- Big projects for example, Lightbox, Look Festival and the National Photography Symposium (NPS)
- Volunteer contribution
- Business ethics and good practice (Doing the right thing when starting out)
- Membership is aimed at developing photographers and provides the following benefits:
- New contacts for networking
- Photography opportunities
- Discounts
- Exposure
- Knowledge
The future
- Not working
- Working but nothing to do with photography
- Working in a field related to photography
- Actually working in photography
- Commercial/Advertising
- Fine Art/projects (Exhibitions etc)
- Editorial (Publications etc)
- Project Management (Running events for organisations)
- Research
- Social/High Street/Wedding
- Mixture of the above
- Other
How to be a star photgrapher
Photographic practice is completely different to 5-10 years ago. Paul gave us some good advice which included a number of quotes about the recipe for success:- Work hard and be nice to people
- Believe in your dreams, never give up
- "Be Honest" (Alan Tussant)
- "You have to be burning and you have to get your shit together" (Christoph Bangert)
- "You've got to have something to say, it's got to be worth saying, then the picture's actually got to say it" (Francis Hodgson)
What do top Photographers have in common?
There are two paradigms:- Primacy of craft
- Narrow range of work
- Tight circle of clients
- Primacy of ideas
- Complimentary range of work
- Works in International and virtual circles
The top photographer
Top photographers have a number of traits:- Has strong interests, good knowledge and research skills
- Can market themselves and are good at talking in writing
- Has a strong voice. You can by looking at a photograph who took it
- Personality - good at building relationships with clients, buyers and curators
- Strong work ethic and good business
- Long term commitment and motivation
- Craft skills and ideas for work that gels, resonates, reflects and surprises
- Photography
- Communication
- Efficiency
- Motivation
The business side of photography (Employed vs Freelance)
Paul gave us some more advice about the business side:- Invest, look after, put all your money into your degree show
- Get some business help
- Ethics: Think about growth, sustainability and champion alternative ways of working
- Collaboration and collectives is important
- Look at community based projects
- Have a digital/online presence
Fees, copyrighting and licensing
Fees (How much should photographers charge?)- Work out your break even point
- You must have a minimum charge for for a job without going out of business
- The formula for this is your total annual overheads as a business divided by the number of jobs you can reasonably doing in a year.
- Consider the minimum wage
- Marketing, Portfolio, equipment, office space, insurance, maintenance can cost between 20 and 100k per year
- It's normally only possible to do 1 or 2 shoots per week
- You can't do billable work every day
- As a loss leader for a marketing opportunity
- When you're able to re-use the photos
- Always retatin the copyright, think 50 years ahead
- Get used to licensing
- Consider the physical image and reproduced copies
- Factor in usage, research and expertise
- Stock/library sales
- Fine art and print
- Work as a facilitator
- Issue a license with every piece of work you produce (Build this into the original quote for your work)
- Provide a description of how you allow your work to be used
- Dimensions should be included (Number of times used, size, Geographical data etc)
- It doesn't have to be complicated
- Advantageous for a photographer
- Limited in duration
- Doesn't replace paid work
- Copyright is respected as a result
- Socially useful
Protecting your work
Paul provided some additional advice about protecting work. Labelling with file info (metadata) in Photoshop is important otherwise you create orphan work.- Go to openings (Galleries etc)
- Visit festivals
- Get business advice
- Training
- Use social media (Twitter, Linked in, Facebook)
- Add metadata to work
- Get involved in projects
- Work with others
- Create a website and blog
- Utilise a slideshow
- Make your portfolio enjoyable
- Have good marketing material
- Write about yourself and others
- Give a talk
- Apply for a grant
- Be written about
- Sell prints
- Exhibit
- Create a book of your work
- Enter competitions
- Email a newsletter 2-3 times a year.
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