legal question of sorts
- This topic has 6 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated Mar 14, 2007 at 4:46 am by
.
-
Posts
-
Is EXIF data embedded in a digital file? Does it follow the picture even if it has been copied and pasted?If someone were to steal an image from a site such as this, and copyright it as their own, but the original author could provide the EXIF information–would it trump the copyright in court.
Just curious.
Bryan
The copyright does automatically ride with the creator of the photograph, as Zach said, but most professionals that handle copyright infringement will tell you that you should still file your work with the US Copyright Office.
It really isn’t difficult or not that expensive, unless you register every picture you take. You can complete the form in 15-20 minutes, if you have never done one before, 5-10 if you have. The cost if $45. You can register copyrights for all the picture you can fit on a cd or dvd. I generally only register those pictures that I submit to publications. You can download the form for photographs at http://www.copyright.gov/register/visual.html
Ya’ll hashed this out pretty well, but thought I’d add that any metadata or file properties like EXIF or IPTC info can be deleted from the file. However, it is possible to add digital watermarks which imbed themselves into the data of the image. The image can then be tracked on the internet to some degree. The software and services to do so, however, seem cost prohibitive for most casual photography.
Carolyn Wright is a copyright attorney who has some resources on her website.
http://www.photoattorney.com/You don’t need to register your images with the US copyright office to be protected from image theft. The instant you click the shutter release, the copyright is granted to the photographer. Thats the law. However, if the images are not registered and theft occurs, the damages you can sue for are limited to the lost fair market licensing fees only.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.