Copyright for Photographers

What is copyright?Copyright is a legal concept, provided in most countries, that gives artists the exclusive right to publish, adapt and license their work for financial benefit.

Why has copyright?Copyright is designed for you — the artist. Without copyright, people would be free to use your artistic work without payment, and you’d have little financial incentive to create art.With copyright, someone who wants to commercially use your work has to get your permission first. They have to license your work, and perhaps pay you real money. Now you can be a “professional” photographer, and buy a nicer camera.

How do I get copyright?Automatically. The law protects your artwork upon mere creation.

Do I have to register, publish, or add a notice?No. Those were requirements in the U.S. before 1976 but they were omitted to conform with the Berne Convention.  But, registering your photos with the copyright office gives you legal benefits...see below.

Who owns the copyright?The person who presses the shutter-release automatically owns the copyright to the photograph.

The one exception is when the the photographer is a full-time employee, then the employer owns the copyright as a “work made for hire.”This does not apply to part-time, volunteer, or contract (e.g. wedding) photographers. 
Work For Hire In order for the employer to hire you and keep the copyright on the photos you create, you must be an employee.  This means the employer must pay benefits and give assignments.  Additionally, in California, the employer must pay workers compensation and unemployment benefits.

Freelance Photography You own the copyright but grant the publication one-time usage rights, or one time usage rights for a specified period of time. You may also sell the copyright (hopefully for a large amount of money).  A photographer owns the copyright unless they explicitly sign it away in writing.

Models (and other people in a photo) do not own copyright; they own their likeness, as publicity rights. Likewise, property owners haveproperty rights.What rights do I get?As a copyright owner, you control who can copy, adapt, license and publicly display your photos, particularly for profit.As a photographer, you get to be the only person to:

1. make and sell copies of your photos;

1. create other art using your photos, such as paintings or Photoshop variations;

1. publish your photos on the Internet and in books;

1. license usage of your photos to other people in exchange for money.

In a sense, copyright doesn’t give you anything, it just takes abilities away from other people, saying what they can’t do. Thus it’s an “exclusionary right” or a “negative right.”

What do I not get?Copyright is not an absolute right; there are over 20 exclusions, limitations and exceptions. These include:

• Facts and unoriginal work

• Ideas

• Duration

• Fair use, for public benefit or non-profit

Copyright does not apply to facts, since these are universal not individual. Factual dates and figures can’t be copyrighted, but text expressing those facts may be. Similarly, works with no originality or creativity (such as “slavish copying”) cannot gain copyright.Copyright covers form but not idea. It applies to the tangible artistic result — known as the “form of material expression” — not the underlying concept. So your photograph has copyright, but not the idea or viewpoint behind it. For example, if you take a great photo of some natural thing, such as a beach or Yosemite Valley, you can’t stop other people from taking the same photo.Many artworks are no longer protected by copyright (they are in the “public domain”) and are free for everyone to use. This includes artworks published before 1923; copyrights that have expired (complex); and public property such as written laws.Copyright can expire. In the U.S., the duration is lifetime plus 70 years.Copyright does not prevent resale. In the U.S., after the “first sale”, the owner can resell a work as-is.Fair use is permitted. This is for purposes that benefit the public interest or that are private, non-commercial and do not affect potential revenue.

What about that © symbol?The © symbol, or any other marking, is not required. It was necessary in the U.S. before 1989, but adoption of the Berne Convention removed this requirement, as copyright is now automatic. However, a copyright notice is still optionally used as means of identifying the copyright owner, along with the date of creation. You don’t have to include the © with your photo, but the addition of “© 2006 Joe Bloggs” tells everyone that Joe Bloggs hereby declares copyright ownership of this photo since 2006.

Why should I register?Registration is required to be able to file a lawsuit. If you registered your work before an infringement (or within three months of first publication), then you can sue for statutory damages of up to $30,000 (or $150,000 for willful infringement) PLUS attorney’s fees. Also, it will be much easier to hire a lawyer on a contingency basis.
For a post-infringement of copyright, you will still have to register it before commencing a suit, but you can only get actual damages and no attorney’s fees, which makes a lawsuit uneconomical.

How do I register copyright?You can apply online. An unlimited number of photos can be registered as a group for one fee of $35 (as long as they have the same author and registration year). Just put your JPEG digital photos in a single zip file and upload them to the U.S. Copyright office.  Most professional photographers recommend registering their photographs on a quarterly basis.  There are different rules for registering photos that have been previously published.

http://www.copyright.gov/

ASMP has a lot of good information on copyright for photographers, including podcasts, faqs and step by step tutorials:
http://asmp.org/tutorials/best-practices.html#.ULd0HNPjlgY

http://asmp.org/tutorials/best-practices.html#.ULd0HNPjlgY

Assignment #9 Photo Illustration

A photo illustration is an original image created from two or more photos, used to convey concepts and ideas in a way that may be difficult or impossible to convey using a "straight" photograph.

The Orlando Sentinel’s policy on photo illustrations:
The combination of photography and illustration to create a “photo illustration” is acceptable in cases in which the subject matter is complex, abstract or difficult to convey through documentary photography. However, all photo illustrations must contain an element of the absurd so exaggerated that the image could not be confused with a documentary photo. These pieces must be labeled as photo illustrations, and their use must be approved by a supervising design or photo editor.

It is important to distinguish to the viewer that a photo illustration is created, not recorded.  It should have "an element of the absurd so exaggerated" so the viewer will immediately know that the image is not a straight photo.  This may be accomplished by using such techniques as exaggerated sizes (tiny human) and impossible positioning, composition and place (background).

The photo illustration should also communicate a concept or idea.  For example, the use of the colors red, white and blue, the flag, Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty are all associated with the United States, and they may also convey the idea of patriotism.  Photos of wine bottles and glasses, the baguette or the Eiffel Tower makes one think of France.

A good way to come up with ideas is to first think of the ideas and concepts of the story that you are trying to illustrate, and then translate these ideas and concepts into images.

Tips:  Use all of the Photoshop tools to your advantage.  Especially helpful  are the masking tools and the blending modes.  It is more realistic in the final illustration if the lighting remains constant (direction and hard/soft), so keep this in mind when photographing the individual images for the illustration.
Remember:  You must use only your original photos.  Do not infringe the copyright of other photographers by stealing their photos from the webl

Assignment:  150 Points
Create two or more versions of one photo illustration related to a story that you worked on for City Magazine.  Combine at least two photos to convey a concept or idea for that story.  The different versions may use slightly different photos, or the same photos with slightly different sizes/placement, or different orientations, such as one being landscape (double page spread) and another being in portrait orientation (cover?).
Due:
Last day of class, Tuesday December 11th

Assignment #8 Multimedia

Assignment:

Create a Multimedia piece on one of your City Magazine stories that can be linked to (by a QR code) in the magazine.  The Multimedia piece must be well thought out and presented in a serious manner (i.e.- No cheesy iMovie themes).

Multimedia pieces can be one of the following:

• Video - from one to five minutes long, including title, credits and sound.
• Time-Lapse - Using your dSLR and an intervalometer, create a time lapse from one to five minutes long.  Include title, credits and sound.
• Combination of Video, Time Lapse and/or Still photos, with the above requirements.
• Slide show with narration, with the above requirements.

Include a text or word file which contains a title and a cutline or short explanation of the piece. 

Note, the 5x5 in-class assignment is also part of this assignment and will be graded along with the City Magazine multimedia piece.

Grading:

150 Points

Due:

Tuesday December 4th.

Resources:
Vimeo has a variety of good how-to videos on making videos and time lapse videos, such as:
http://vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/9/timelapse

http://vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/15/shooting-video-with-a-dslr

5x5 in-class assignment

5X5 Videos
Rules:
5 shots of 5 seconds a piece
themes can be based on a variety of ideas and concepts such as video portraits and mini documentaries.

One idea for topic generation: Workshop participants write an adjective on a piece of paper. The slips of paper are placed in a bag or a hat and drawn randomly. These adjectives, describing or modifying a person or a thing, act as a springboard for the topic to be explored.
Total running length: 25 seconds.

5x5 videos employ an editing technique where every shot is the same length. This technique is referred to as metric editing. In this exercise you will be making a modular video using rhythmic editing. The video will consist of 5 shots, each one is 5 seconds in length. In the end you have one 25 second video. The order can be easily changed and you can focus on the sequencing of your shots and the experience you are trying to convey.
5x5 example videos on Vimeo.com

https://vimeo.com/groups/fivebyfive/videos/51157206

https://vimeo.com/groups/fivebyfive/videos/49531550

https://vimeo.com/groups/fivebyfive/videos/47692736

and a few from the graphics instructor, Morgan Barnard:

https://vimeo.com/29359711

https://vimeo.com/30211790

https://vimeo.com/27519655

A few quick thoughts on shooting video:

• ●  Shoot more than you think you need.
  
• ●  Do not start the intended action right after you hit record
  
• ●  Frame using the rule of thirds
  
• ●  Work with a storyboard or shot list
  
  Camera settings:
  Get familiar with your camera settings. You need to understand what kind of video your camera shoots. Most formats can be converted easily but some need specialized tools. We will be using iMovie for editing, it can handle most video formats, especially anything ending in .mov.
  HD sizes
  1920x1080 is Full HD
  1280x720 is also considered HD
  

Working with iMovie:
iMovie is a good piece of software for easily editing your video clips. It’s a basic video editing program and that’s a good thing. It forces you to focus on the important things like the story you are trying to tell. Often times, editing programs can be overly complex when you just want to focus on creating incredible images and experiences.
There are two main windows in iMovie, the events and the projects windows. Additionally there is a viewer that displays the footage as you scroll through it with your mouse, also known as skimming.
Events are for the clips you import and projects are the edited sequences. Files associated with these windows are located in the Movies folder of your home directory. You’ll find an iMovie Events and and iMovie Projects folder inside the movies folder. Events are setup so that you can organize them in different ways. You can create your custom events or base your events on the imported footage from a card. Projects are information about your edit decisions and are smaller files. You can flip the Event and Project windows in iMovie to suit your taste. I prefer to have the events on the top and the projects on the bottom you can switch them around by going to the Window menu, then selecting “Swap Events and Projects”

Import video:
There are a few different ways to import footage from your camera. I won’t go into all the technical nitty gritty here, but you should start by importing from camera or memory card.
Plug in your camera with a USB cable or plug your memory card into a card reader. Go to file → “Import from Camera” or press the little camera icon on the left side of the interface. Some footage may show up in this interface. For instance, when I connect my iPhone 4S and select import from camera, I get previews of all my clips. This works with other cameras as well, it just depends on the format. If your footage shows up in this window you can preview it, then import it. If your footage does not show up in here, then you will need to select “file→import→Movies” from the file menu. Navigate to where your movie files are located, select the ones you want and press import. There is a dialogue box for selecting events or creating new events. Go ahead and make a new event, call it something recognizable and related to the project. Set the optimize video selection to Full - Original Size. This will keep you working at the highest quality available.

import movies

Make selections:
Once your videos are imported into an event, you can begin the process of reviewing your footage. iMovie uses a technique called skimming to quickly scan through your footage. As you drag your cursor over a clip you will see it displayed in the viewer window. When you click and drag you can make selections. You will see the length of your selection as you drag. Don’t worry too much about making the 5 second timing perfect yet. Just get close, we can fix it later once we start editing.

edit footage:
As you find clips that you are interested in using, begin adding them to the timeline by dragging the selected clips to the project/timeline window. If there are no projects yet on the computer, choose create new project. Once you have one or several clips you can start to drag the clips around to rearrange them. To change the length of clip to exactly five seconds, you need to
get into the clip adjustments. When you have a clip selected in the timeline, press the “I” key to bring up the clip inspector window. In the clip adjustments pane you can change the duration, speed and other other attributes. This is where you would check to make sure that your clip is exactly five seconds in length.

modify your edit:
Once you have all your footage in a timeline, you can quickly rearrange the order of the shots. If you need to fine tune your edit points, click once on a clip to select it, then drag it to a new position. Recreate your storyboard, then experiment with new and different combinations of your footage. Look for alternate takes and build several iterations until your idea is complete. When you bring up the inspector by pressing the ”I” key, you can select the video pane for color correction tools. Spend time adjusting and fine tuning the look of your images.

export:

Once you have organized your shots and constructed your piece, you can export it by going to the share menu and selecting the intended format. In the share menu, select Export Movie for some basic sizes that are good to be played on the apple TV.

export movie options
For more advanced settings select Export Quicktime, but for the most part, the standard Export Movie options will work fine. Note that some files produced through the Export Movie option may have the .m4v file extension and will by default want to open into iTunes. You can change the file extension to .mov and it will open directly in Quicktime Player. 

Class Cancelled

Class is cancelled for Tuesday, November 6th.  We'll meet again on Thursday.

Go out and Vote!

Important!  Bring your camera to Thursday's class.  We will be getting the Multimedia Assignment and working with video.

Assignment #7 Sports

A good sports photograph will:

• be Timely  -  Nobody reading the paper cares about last weeks game, your photos need to be in tomorrow morning's paper, which means a deadline of this evening, right after the game.
• be Timely  - The best sports photographs show concepts such as victory, defeat, determination, grit etc. that transcend the one game and stand the test of time.

• Catch the Winning Play  -  Concentration, knowledge of the sport and the timing of an athlete are needed to catch the game-winning touchdown or homerun any big play that changes the dynamics of the game.
• Summarize the game in one photo  - The photo chosen should parallell the lead story, often the leading scorer or a play that changes the game.

Technical Aspects:

• Autofocus  - Continuous autofocus is most often used.  For some sports "zone" focusing works well.  Many sports photographers manually set the focus button to a button on the back of the camera.
• Shutter speed  - 1/1000 of a second or higher to freeze the action.  Panning and blur are better at 1/15th or 1/30th, but can be faster for faster action
• Lens  - the long, fast telephoto is a staple for sports photography.  A medium length fast(er) is useful for indoor sports.
• Predict the action  - where will the most exciting part of the play end up?
• Position - Where to stand on the sideline to get the shot.  Unusual angles add interest.

Due:  Tuesday November 27th

Present a sports story of 7-15 photographs on one particular sport.  This can be anything from team sports such as Basketball or Football, to individual sports such as tennis, surfing or golf.
This story must include action shots as well as portraits of athletes.

Ideally the action shots should include the standard fast shutter speed "stop action" as well as creative use of shutter speed such as panning and blur.  The portrait should be set up and more formal, but with a creative "edge,"  think Sports Illustrated or a Gatorade ad.
Don't forget the interplay of coaches, players and fans.  Also a good establishing shot (such as the arena and crowd) will add to the assignment.

Due: 7-15 jpegs at 1600 pixels on the long side at 72ppi, sRGB color profile.  Minimally processed (except for the portraits).  Sports is one of the areas that photographers don't always shoot RAW files, so original jpegs are acceptable, just be sure to nail the exposure and white balance.
Put the photos in a folder labeled SPORTS-yourname and upload to the server.