The Questions

Name: Joaquin Lares
Class BUS250H Contracts, Negotiations and Copyrights
Lawyer's Name: Michael Rounds
Firm's Name: WATSONROUNDS


I chose the following questions since they have the greatest interest to me on a professional and personal level. Most of these questions I will have to worry about in one form or another while working as a Photographer in the field or a studio setting. Knowing the answers to these questions could help me save money in the form legal fees.

I chose the following questions since they have the greatest interest to me on a professional and personal level. Most of these questions I will have to worry about in one form or another while working as a Photographer in the field or a studio setting. Knowing the answers to these questions could help me save money in the form legal fees.

1. How do I know what form of intellectual property protection is available for my work?   

     A.) If you have produced an original work of authorship in a tangible medium of expression, such as a book, computer program, visual artwork or motion picture, copyright is the appropriate protection.

2. How "original" does my work have to be to merit copyright protection?
     A.) The level of originality required for a copyright is met if the expression is new to author, regardless of whether someone else had a similar idea before.

3. How much of my work is protected under a copyright?

     A.) A copyright protects only your expression — not the idea that underlies the expression. By providing only protection for expression and not for ideas, copyright law encourages authors to freely exchange and express information and ideas.

4. Can I protect multiple but related works under the same registration?
     A.) Collective works, such as magazines and encyclopedias, whose copyrighted parts make up a whole, are also copyrightable.

5. How can I prove that there has been an infringement on my copyright?
     A.) If the allegedly infringing work is substantially similar to yours and your work was accessible to others (through publication, for example), you may be able to show that the defendant copied your work. This is a fact-dependent issue. If the defendant independently produced the allegedly infringing work, however, without knowledge of either the existence or the content of your prior work, then the defendant may be able to show that it did not copy your work.

6. Are there specialized courts in the United States that hear intellectual property claims?
     A.) The US does not have courts that are exclusively dedicated to hearing intellectual property matters. Rather, intellectual property claims are usually brought in federal district court to be presided over by that court's judge.
7. Do you need permission to take a picture of someone if you will not be able to recognize him or her?
     A.) Many countries recognize that individuals have a right of publicity. The right of publicity is the direct opposite of the right of privacy. It recognizes that a person’s image has economic value that is presumed to be the result of the person’s own effort and it gives to each person the right to exploit their own image. Under this right, you could be liable if you use a photograph of someone without their consent to gain some commercial benefit.

8. Is it illegal to Photoshop someone's picture and put it up on the Internet?

9. Is it illegal to post pictures taken of a live sporting event on the Internet?

10. If you take a photograph of a structure such as Willis Tower from an abutting private lot can you sell the photograph?

A.) Yes, you can take a picture of just about anything in public and sell it, as long as it does not violate someone's right to privacy (even in public!), and you do not use a commercial trademark to misrepresent your affiliation.