In the last few years more and more photographers are delivering the image files from the wedding to their clients as part of the final product. This has led to the question of copyright being raised and a lot of misunderstanding surrounds the subject.
I have been asked about copyright by many clients and in virtually all cases there is confusion about what the word copyright actually means in the context of wedding photographs.
Copyright or License?
What most brides actually mean when they ask “do I get the copyright” is can I use the files to make as many prints as I want. The answer to that is usually ‘yes’; your photographer will give you the files and grant you a license for personal use which includes prints, albums etc.
But you don’t need to have copyright to do this, the license will suffice.
Having the license but not the copyright means that you won’t be free to sell the images (or prints) for profit or use them for other commercial gain.
Musical Similarities
A good comparison might be the music industry. If we buy an mp3 file of a song we like from iTunes or Amazon we have the right to play that song on our iPod, computer or maybe in our car. We can copy it to all these different platforms to enjoy when and where we like. What we can’t do is to copy the file and then sell those copies to other people or use the song to make money in other ways.
Few serious pros will consider giving up their copyright unless there is a very good reason. I have agreed to it on only two occasions, both times when the client was a high profile personality who needed control of their image rights and was willing to pay suitable compensation to me as a photographer to obtain those rights.
It’s best to ask your wedding photographer to supply you with a copy of his or her terms & conditions relating to the use of the images but in my experience the following is a good rule of thumb:
What you can do with your wedding photographs:
- Produce prints on a non-profit basis
- Share the files with friends and family
- Make your own albums etc
- Post on social media
What you can’t do without permission from the photographer:
- Re-sell the files or prints made from those files
- Enter the images into competitions etc
- Sell for commercial gain. Your photographer will want to retain his or her copyright for several reasons and I will cover that in my next article.
Lloyd Dobbie captures wedding photography in London and across the UK and Europe. You can see his wedding portfolio here on his website.
