Ownership of Copyright

Possession of a photographic print, whether a gift, purchased or found in a skip, does not entitle the owner of the print to exploit it in any way unless a written assignment of copyright accompanies the print or it is clearly long out of copyright. By all means hang it on the wall but beware of supplying it to a publisher.

Photographs taken before 1 July 1912

These are out of copyright but ownership of a physical print grants certain rights. A fee may be charged for access and use of the print but this fee does not include copyright.

see Publication Right

Photographs taken between 1 July 1912 and 31 July 1989

Copyright is owned by whoever owns the film. This could be:

• The photographer if the photograph was not commissioned
• If the photograph was commissioned, the commissioner owns the copyright unless other arrangements were made at the time although if the commissioner has gone out of business, the rights may revert to the photographer.
• If the photographer was employed and took the photograph in the course of his employment, the employer owns the copyright.

Photographs taken after 1 August 1989

Copyright belongs to the photographer:

• If the photographer was employed and took the photograph in the course of his employment, the employer owns the copyright.
• Commissioners own copyright only if there is an agreement assigning copyright to the commissioner. If not, copyright belongs to the photographer. The commissioner does however have the right to limit what can be done with the photograph and the photographer has the right to limit how the commissioner uses the photograph. The commissioner does not have the right to publish the picture and neither does the photographer. They have to agree.

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