Libby Law and Toni-anne Collins (below),among other photographers, produce great images for you to enjoy on our site - please respect their copyright and that of all photographers
So you’ve purchased a photo of you or someone you know competing at a recent event and now you own that image, right? You can do anything you like with it? Well sadly, no you can’t. What you have purchased is a print, and the original image is still owned by someone else and any reproduction/copying of that image must have the copyright owner’s permission.
Now, almost all copyright owners will be fine with you posting the image on your Facebook page or blog or sending a copy to your family or friends for their personal use, but that’s about as far as it goes. And even then they will usually stipulate that a credit line acknowledging them as the copyright holder be included in even those instances.
Yeah, but there are millions of images on the internet without a credit line, they must be free to use, right? Sadly, again the answer is no. The mere absence of a credit line does not mean the copyright holder has relinquished their rights since their rights are granted upon creation of the original work and can only be relinquished by written agreement.
All of this is not to say you can’t use the image for anything at all, but it does mean you have to ask permission first. It’s really a matter of considering that the creation of the image is someone’s job, they rely on it for a living, and it’s therefore only fair to let them know if you want to use it for something other than personal use. And in most cases, you’ll find they’ll be fair-minded about it and if a fee applies it will be based on the intended use and will be fair and reasonable. Of course, you can expect to pay more for the cover of a national magazine compared to a small flyer for your local pony club, but again, that’s only fair.
These rules apply to all copyrighted material, whether it’s a pic of you at a public event or an article about you on a small website. It can seem harsh but it’s about protecting people’s livelihoods, and by seeking permission first you’ll often find the copyright holder is open to making their work available at little or no fee. It’s just about good manners really.
