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"Protect Yourself as a Photographer - Legal Aspects to Consider This article series is about the legal aspects that a photographer must think about when (s)he intends to make a business out of photography. Including information on legal documents, such as the model release form and photo contracts."

Shooting Pictures in Public Places Is Legal Popular Mechanics, of all publications, offers a rational guide to when and where it's legal to take photographs and video. It's a timely topic, in light of BP's attempts to get local law enforcement agencies to scare away photojournalists, and video shooters who have had their equipment confiscated by cops who didn't want cameras pointing at them. (See our recent blog post on this topic: "Journalists vs. Law Enforcement.") University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds' (pictured) conclusion serves as the title of his essay: "Taking Photos in Public Places Is Not a Crime."

PHOTOGRAPHY IN PUBLIC AREAS » FREE DOWNLOAD - The UK Photographers Rights Guide. Permalink 19/11/04 22:33 , Categories: Photographers Rights I'm pleased to announce the launch of the UK Photographers Rights PDF. This is intended to provide a short UK guide to the main legal restrictions on the right to take photographs and the right to publish photographs that have been taken. The guide was written by Linda Macpherson LL.B, Dip.L.P., LL.M, who is a lecturer in law at Heriot Watt University, with particular experience in Information Technology Law, Intellectual Property Law and Media Law.

Terms & Conditions for your business paperwork Good paperwork is of the utmost importance in your business. It helps prevent misunderstandings, protects your legal and financial interests, and conveys a crisp, businesslike impression to your clients. Every few years, ASMP publishes a new edition of its manual Professional Business Practices in Photography. The sample business forms in that book represent the best business practices in our ever-changing industry. The medium of print, however, is entirely static and cannot convey the vast range of options that good paperwork must encompass. The Web, in contrast, provides a malleable medium in which the text can be varied to reflect the choices made by users. Hence this module.

ASMP's Copyright Application Tutorial Your original images are your legacy. Like many a photographer, you probably expect to retire on the royalties from the photographs you have made over the years. Early planning, especially with proper copyright protection, can facilitate this. Although every original photograph you create is automatically copyrighted the instant the shutter is clicked, you don't get much legal protection unless you follow through on a few things. So it is important for you to develop an easy system that will allow you to quickly and regularly register your copyrights as soon as possible. In this ASMP Tutorial on copyright, we explain the necessary steps to take and the problems that you should avoid.

"Increasingly music is finding its way into online multimedia journalism, and with good reason. A well chosen soundtrack can pull your viewers deep into your story, keep them hooked and make an emotional point. Music is, and let's be honest about this, a way of manipulating how your audience feel. There are those purists who are against that, who argue the story should be strong enough not to need to tell your viewer how to feel. Whichever camp you lie in, one thing is for sure: if you use music in any piece of online video journalism or digital story it must be legal. There is no excuse for getting your client or your newsroom shouldered with an expensive bill just because that bit of Arcade Fire fitted perfectly with the film. The good news is there are plenty of resources out there for free, or cheap, music. Most, but not all, operate under the Creative Commons Licence, which lets you use music on certain conditions."

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog The Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) provides access through group or item records to more than 50% of the Division's holdings, as well as to some images found in other units of the Library of Congress. Many of the catalog records are accompanied by digital images--about one million digital images in all. Montage, clockwise from top left: Destitute pea pickers in California, "Migrant Mother" by Dorothea Lange; "I want you for the U.S. Army", by James Montgomery Flagg; Modern Gengi: viewing in the snow, by Toyokuni Utagawa; T.S. Eastabrook House, Chicago, IL; Caricature curiosity, by George Moutard Woodward Not all images displayed in this catalog are in the public domain. The Library offers broad public access to these materials as a contribution to education and scholarship. It is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections. In some collections, only thumbnail images display to those searching outside the Library of Congress because of potential rights considerations. See the Library's Legal Notices for more information.

FREE DOWNLOAD - The UK Photographers Rights Guide. Permalink 19/11/04 22:33 , Categories: Photographers Rights I'm pleased to announce the launch of the UK Photographers Rights PDF. This is intended to provide a short UK guide to the main legal restrictions on the right to take photographs and the right to publish photographs that have been taken. The guide was written by Linda Macpherson LL.B, Dip.L.P., LL.M, who is a lecturer in law at Heriot Watt University, with particular experience in Information Technology Law, Intellectual Property Law and Media Law.

Read our business articles online This section contains a variety of articles on the business of publication photography that cover topics ranging from legal and marketing matters to the intricacies of doing business in the digital environment. Periodically, we will be adding new articles, so please visit again.

The Abu Ghraib prison scandal first exploded into public light in April 2004 when reports and photographs of torture were revealed in a daring New Yorker article written by Seymour Hersh. At a conference recently held at Stanford, entitled Thinking Humanity After Abu Ghraib, Hersh and a panel of experts came together to think through the legal, political, psychological, and ethical implications of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, and also to weigh the consequences of the US government's evolving approach to handling enemy combatants and suspects taken during the war on terror. You can now find all of the presentations on iTunes (which you can download for free). Here is the lineup:

Investigations and other resources A look at investigations into Abu Ghraib; plus, other reports, legal documents and further reading about prisoner abuse and torture.

Human Rights Watch is one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.

"Courts have long ruled that the First Amendment protects the right of citizens to take photographs in public places. Even after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, law enforcement agencies have reiterated that right in official policies. But in practice, those rules don't always filter down to police officers and security guards who continue to restrict photographers, often citing authority they don't have. Almost nine years after the terrorist attacks, which ratcheted up security at government properties and transportation hubs, anyone photographing federal buildings, bridges, trains or airports runs the risk of being seen as a potential terrorist. (Can an entire downtown be declared a no-photo zone?) Reliable statistics on detentions and arrests of photographers are hard to come by, but photographers, their advocates and even police agree that confrontations still occur frequently. Photographers had run-ins with police before the 2001 attacks, but constitutional lawyers say the combination of heightened security concerns and the spread of digital cameras has made such incidents more common. "

The Photographer's Right A Downloadable Flyer Explaining Your Rights When Stopped or Confronted for Photography The Photographer's Right is a downloadable guide that is loosely based on the Bust Card and the Know Your Rights pamphlet that used to be available on the ACLU website. It may be downloaded and printed out using Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may make copies and carry them your wallet, pocket, or camera bag to give you quick access to your rights and obligations concerning confrontations over photography. You may distribute the guide to others, provided that such distribution is not done for commercial gain and credit is given to the author.

Why you need releases A release is a written agreement between you and the person you are photographing, or the person who owns the property you are photographing. The purpose of the release is to protect you from any future lawsuits the person might file for claims such as defamation and invasion of privacy. A model release says the person being photographed has given consent to be photographed and to the use of the images you capture. It doesn't just apply to professional models or situations where people know they are posing for photos. You should seek to get a signed model release any time that your photos contain recognizable images of people, unless you are certain that you will never want to use them for anything other than editorial purposes. A property release says that the owner of a certain property, such as a pet or a building, has given you consent to take and use images of the property. You don't need one for public property, such as government buildings (although you may run into problems just from photographing them, for security reasons). But for images of private property - and particularly of objects that are closely identified with specific people - you are safer if you get a release. The releases you obtain should be saved forever and should be linked in some way with the photographs to which they relate. You can expect to be asked to produce them whenever you license an image, and you will need them if you ever have to defend yourself in court.

ASMP Licensing Guide Most photographers go into business for themselves because they are passionate about making pictures - not because they want to be in business. The irony is that photographers who do not learn and implement sound business practices will not be able to continue photographing professionally.

Why These Forms are Critical to Your Business By Victor Perlman and Richard Weisgrau Every business day, photographers have a need to communicate transactional information to their prospects and clients. It might be the information in an estimate, the agreement expressed in a confirmation, or the verification of a delivery of photographs. Regardless of the nature of the communication, records of your communications are important, especially when they set the terms, conditions, price, and license to use your work.

Improving a bad contract It is all too common for a publisher to ask you to sign a work agreement that cancels your rights while imposing new obligations on you. But you can protect yourself. First, learn to recognize bad contract terms. Second, be ready to propose fairer terms. Below, we present an example of an extremely bad contract - one that is actually being used by a New York publisher - along with a point-by-point explanation of what's wrong and what would make it better.