Legal Question in Business Law in Wisconsin

Copyright Issue

I am a fiber artist and have photos taken by a professional photographer and submit these slides when applying for art shows.

My question: Do I always need to state "Photo by _______________" on my promotional material? In other words, do I always need to acknowledge the photographer and can these slides be copyrighted by the photographer?


Asked on 6/20/00, 9:59 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lawrence Graves Coolidge & Graves PLLC

Re: Copyright Issue

For starters, you should understand that the copyright in the photos and/or slides belongs to the photographer unless he transfers copyright ownership to you. If the photographer knows what you are doing with the photos/slides and is charging you accordingly, then you have an implied license to make such use of his work. If he asks for a credit, that would become a condition of the license, and your failure to provide requested credits could render your use infringing.

On the other hand, if the photographer has never requested photo credits, there would be no reason to provide them until/unless he makes such a request.

Best wishes,

LDWG

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Answered on 8/29/00, 4:31 pm


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