“If I hand my camera to another person to shoot a few frames, who owns the copyright for the images?”
The question is simple enough but the ramifications are huge!
We do that all the time, handing our camera to a waiter or a complete stranger and ask them to shoot our photos. Do you know who the photos belong to? Really? Can you enter that photo in a contest and win a prize, sell it for huge sum of money, license it for commercial purposes?
Carolyn E. Wright over at the Photo Attorney, is an attorney whose practice is aimed squarely at the needs of photographers and she answers the question. Be surprised!
Read the answer at: Photo Attorney.
OK, I assume you’ve read the article [if not, goread it before continuing] and are as shocked by the answer as I am.
The ramifications are huge! Not only because the person who presses the shutter release button (or clicks the remote) is the legal author of the picture, but what about those who hold up the flash, the reflectors, etc. Do they also have rights to your award-winning photo? I smell lawsuits in the making.