Who Really Owns Your Photos - Demystifying Photography Copyrights

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, nor do I intend to masquerade as one. So I’m going to make this as simple as possible. But, know that if you still have questions about who owns the copyrights to your photos, please feel free to send me an email and I’d be happy to discuss this topic further.

Here’s something that is going to ruffle a few feathers. When you hire a photographer, you don’t actually own the images that you’ve purchased. It’s simple, the ownership of those photos belongs to the person who clicks the button on the camera - it’s that person’s intellectual property. 

So, what have you ACTUALLY purchased when you hire a photographer then? Holy smokes! This list is extensive. But, again, I’m going to keep it as simple as possible. Just know that this answer is WAY more complicated than I’m making it out to be. Quite simply what you’ve purchased is that photographer’s talent, and a specific set of rights to use the images they’ve created for you. 

These rights are given to the client as a license, and the terms of these licenses are negotiated between the photographer and the client. A simple example of a commonly used license would be a personal use license. These are used for family photoshoots, weddings, and non-business-related events and give the client the right to print their photos and usually also allows the client to share them on social media (as long as the photographer is properly credited). 

When it comes to business photography, like brand or commercial photography, things get a bit more complicated. Since these images are now being used to promote a business, these clients need to ask for more rights. Examples include the ability to use the images across a range of platforms such as social media, PR campaigns, print ads, and marketing collateral. When these images are used for marketing purposes, the client isn’t going to want to credit the photographer every time an image is used. Imagine:

“Hey Entrepreneur! I’d love for you to inview me! But when you promote that interview, I’m gonna need you to credit my photographer on this headshot.”

And while your photographer would LOVE a feature in Entrepreneur, this request comes off as unprofessional and there’s a good chance they are going to deny it anyway because it would be confusing to their audience. Plus, they might need to alter the image by cropping it or editing it to fit their brand image. Without a proper license, you would have to ask the photographer for permission to do this first. 

Keep in mind that these rights to a photographer’s intellectual property (aka your photos) comes at a price. The more rights you want, the greater your investment becomes. It’s important to discuss with your photographer where and how your images are going to be used so you don’t end up getting charged additional fees when things like PR campaigns or other marketing needs pop up. They’ll also need to make sure that they provide you with images that are sized to fit your specific needs. 

Another important fact to share is that if you don’t own the copyright to your images, you cannot resell the images. An example of this occurred when one of my clients was approached by a company who asked to purchase the images from her shoot for a set amount of money per image. While I absolutely wanted to see her make some extra money, what this company was doing was highly unethical and could have ended up getting her in real legal trouble. I’m so thankful that she thought to ask me first! Photography rights and ownership is really confusing!! But a company working with influencers should absolutely know better than to approach an individual with this request.

So the next question I get asked after having this discussion with people is, “can I purchase the copyrights to my images?” Depending on the photographer, there’s a chance you can. But most likely it’s going to be really expensive and unless you’re planning to resell the images yourself, it’s not usually necessary. It’s best to simply make sure that you have adequate rights awarded to you through the photography license you invest in.

I know this wasn’t the sexiest topic to discuss, but it’s important to know your legal rights when it comes to investing in a photographer for your business. And if you’re ready to get to the fun part and start planning out your photoshoot, let’s chat! You can book a brainstorming session with me by clicking here where we’ll take a deep dive into your brand image, voice, and messaging and come up with the perfect plan to create photos that grab your audience’s attention and position you as an authority in your industry.