I want to talk to you about this, because just sharing photos you’ve found, thinking, ‘No one’s going to come after me’ won’t work. Feigning ignorance will not stop you from being caught and you may be done for breach of copyright!
There are rules when it comes to copyright and people often flagrantly ignore them – but at their own risk.
As businesses, it’s really important that you understand what you can and can’t do when it comes to sharing images.
If your photo appears in the paper or in a magazine with an article about you, then of course you want to share it so family and friends or business buddies can see it. But do not take a photo or screenshot it and share it!
Why not? Because even if you are a photographer and the photo is yours, or the image is of you – there is copyright on the layout of that newspaper or magazine, so you don’t have the right to share it.
Many newspapers are covered by the NLA (NLA Media Access – rights licensing and content distribution), and magazines, books and journals are covered by the CLA (Copyright Licensing Agency). These bodies search the internet for people sharing images from those newspaper and magazine outlets and they follow-up by going after these people for breaking copyright laws.
They are doing the rounds at the moment too, because I know someone who has been caught out by this and sent a demand for a large sum of money for breaking the law.
So, how can you share the fact you’ve been in the newspaper or in a magazine. What can you do instead? You can share the link to the article on social media. Talk about the experience of being interviewed, or photographed for the article, or talk more about the subject of the article.
As a photographer, I always ask for permission to share images, as I have had to do recently whilst capture photos of a member of the royal family. Sometimes, local privately owned magazines, such as The Business Exchange Swindon and Wiltshire do allow images to be shared, as they don’t subscribe to the NLA or CLA.
If you’re unsure if the newspaper or magazine you’ve appeared in are covered by these licenses, then you can check the NLA Media Access Title Search and it will or will not confirm if they are covered.
Also, many people misguidedly think that Google Images are copyright free too – which, generally, they are not.
Another misunderstanding can happen when someone gives photos to a PR person to share that were taken of them at an event, and they assume they are theirs to use freely. They’re not, because they’re the copyright of the photographer who took them. So, ensure that if you are photographed at an event and then sent those photos, rather than sharing them, you have only been sent them for you to see. It doesn’t automatically mean you are given permission to share them.
It’s because of these copyright laws that I work with so many businesses to build up their own stock photos and work with them to photograph any major events in their diary. Even if they invite the local press, or they turn up (and most newspapers are with the NLA), there’s no reason why a business shouldn’t have their own photographer there too.
If you’d like me to come along and photograph a major event for your business, then please contact me: Info@moore-photographics.com
