Who owns the photos, the photographer or the client?
PhotographyIntellectual propertyContracts
The photographer owns the copyright, unless a signed document transfers it. That is true even though the client hired you and paid for the shoot. What the client gets is a license: permission to use the photos in the ways your contract describes. Wedding and portrait clients usually get a personal use license. Commercial clients get a license defined by use, territory and time.
Why the photographer keeps it
Copyright belongs to the person who creates the work. A photographer working as an employee creates work that belongs to the employer, but a freelance photographer is not an employee. Commissioned photography only counts as work made for hire in a few narrow categories, and only with a signed agreement, so for most shoots the copyright stays with you.
What the license should say
- Personal or commercial use.
- Where the images can appear: website, social, print, paid advertising, packaging.
- How long: one year, the campaign, or forever.
- Whether it is exclusive, so you cannot license the same images to others.
- Whether the client may edit or crop the images, and whether you get credit.
Use beyond the license
If a client uses your images beyond what they paid for, such as a wedding photo in a venue's ad, that is infringement, and the fix is usually a new license fee. Registering your copyright with the US Copyright Office before an infringement, or within three months of first publication, makes statutory damages and attorney's fees available if you ever have to sue.
What to do
- State in every contract that you keep the copyright and the client receives a license.
- Define the license by use, place and time, and price it that way.
- Offer a broader license, or a buyout, for clients who want more.
- Register your most valuable images with the Copyright Office.
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Written by the lawyers who built Arabella. This is legal information, not legal advice for your situation, and reading it does not make us your lawyers. For a real dispute or a high-stakes decision, talk to a licensed attorney. More questions.