Welcome to 2018!
Happy New Year! I hope that everyone’s dreams and wishes came true in 2017. And here’s hoping for even more wonderfulness in 2018.We at Images By Janice had an exciting year in 2017. It looks like 2018 is starting out with a bang as well. Sadly, it has come to my attention that some of our clients don’t understand federal copyright protection. If you are one of them, don’t feel bad. I’m always surprised at just how many people really don’t understand copyright at all. Did you know that photographs belong to the photographer who makes them? That’s right. They do. As soon as a photographer pushes the shutter button, the resulting image belongs to that photographer or their studio.
Copyright defined:
According to the U.S. Copyright Office, “Copyright” is defined as: “a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States for ‘original works of authorship’, including literary, dramatic, musical, architectural, cartographic, choreographic, pantomimic, pictorial, graphic, sculptural, and audiovisual creations”. Exclusive rights of the copyright owner include distribution of copies of the work to the public by sale, rental, lease, or lending. These exclusive rights make it illegal to copy, scan, edit or share photographic prints or digital media without the photographer’s permission.If you thought that saving a photo from a website by using the screen capture option on your PC, phone or iPad was okay – you were wrong. It is a violation of the Federal Copyright Act. Do you believe that it is okay to scan prints that you purchased from a show photographer to share them with your friends on Facebook? Sorry – wrong again. Even snapping a quick iPhone photo of your favorite print from a studio session is illegal. Just because you bought the print, it does not mean that you now own the copyright. “Copyright” = “Copy” + “Right” (aka the “right to copy”). Only the original photographer or their studio has the right to copy any photo.
Do You Have Permission?
Unless you have permission from your photographer, it is illegal to copy, distribute, publicly display, or create derivative works from your purchased photographs. At Images By Janice, we sell digital files from performance events so that you may share them online. We are in the business of creating photographs and in order to stay in business, we must sell photographs. If you screen capture a photo from our online gallery without purchasing it, you are stealing. Even if you purchased the digital file but have not yet received it, it is still illegal to take a photo of the online image to share. If you purchase a physical print from us, we are more than happy to add-on a water-marked digital file for you to share. We know that everyone loves to share fun shots of their favorite dog soaring over an agility jump, nailing his weaves, or just plain being silly on the agility course. Heck, we love doing that too with our own silly dogs. If we share one of your dog’s photos on our Facebook page, feel free to share it to your own page. We do request that you don’t remove the watermark or add any silly Facebook or camera phone filter to it, however. (That would also be a violation of the Copyright Act since you would be creating a “derivative work”.)In short, if we took a photo of your dog (or your friend’s dog) and you want to share it, we will gladly grant you permission to do so. Just please purchase the digital file from us. We love seeing our images shared, as long as they are being shared in a way that does not violate our copyright.If you would like more information on photographic copyright, please visit:
Let’s have FUN this year!
We love photographing everyone’s performance dogs. We laugh at their antics and revel in their successes – right along with all of you. We love sharing our photos in online galleries for folks to see and purchase. Going forward, however, our online galleries will have a watermark through them middle of each image. I’ve refreained from doing that in the past, because I feel that it detracts from the photo. It also makes it much more difficult to check sharpness when making a purchase decision. Unfortunately, in order to protect our livelihood, I feel like this has become a necessary evil. When you purchase a digital download from our gallery site, the unsightly watermark in the middle of the photo will be removed. There will still be a small watermark in the lower left corner, as there has been in the past.
David and I are looking forward to a fun year photographing your dogs. Whether it’s at an action-packed agility weekend or a more subdued obedience or rally trial, we are planning to capture lots of WOW! moments of your favorite canines. Also, don’t forget that we also offer in-studio pet portrait photography. Make 2018 the year that Images By Janice immortalizes your pet.
