Copyright

We have researched and continue to research the issue of copyright and Intellectual Property law and work closely on an ongoing basis with Copyright and IP legal specialists.

What we do know is that it's a fluid medium, and there are few 'black and white' rules. Digital technology is responsible for a lot of goalposts being moved all the time and we will do our best to keep across this. If you have a specific question or issue our FORUM would be a good place to post your question - you may have some advice or experience you want to share with another user.

What we can tell you is this.

If you are the photographer who took the picture, you own the copyright. This is a basic rule, but if you want to sell your photos you have to check the copyright of the subject and the circumstances in which you took the picture.

If you take a photo of something from a public place, i.e. a public street, then you can sell that photo as long as you haven't broken any privacy laws. Taking a photo of someone sitting in their lounge watching telly even though you were in a public street is not a good idea and you would be violating that person's privacy. It's common sense.

By submitting your photographs to picturenation for sale you retain the copyright of your photos and are free to sell them elsewhere.

If you sell the copyright of any of your photos that are featured on picturenation you must tell us immediately.

If you are an artist submitting a picture or design as a photograph for sale through picturenation then as the designer you are the copyright holder of that work and the picture of it.

There are some basic rules about what you cannot do which are perhaps the most important to remember:

Trespass

You cannot trespass or enter private property to get a photograph. You need to seek permission to be on private property if you wish to take photographs. If you pay an entrance fee to a property - a stately home for example - then the pictre you take whilst on that property cannot be sold commercially by you without permission from the property owner. PN does not take pictures of the insides of buildings without property release forms.

Prohibited places

UK National Trust, English Heritage and Royal Parks land and properties are private property and there are restrictions on the sales of these image subjects. If you take a photo of such a property from within the private land or property then we cannot accept the image. If you take the photo from a public road or place then we may accept it, but with commercial sale restrictions on it. We want to be good corporate citizens and will always try not to violate anyone's copyright. Sometimes you can obtain written permission from these organizations and pay a fee in order to take photographs that you want to sell. It's worth checking.

Taking photographs is usually prohibited in museums, stately homes, theatres, art galleries, and by most concert venues. This includes outdoor museums where there may be exhibits of buildings, transport, etc. Such exhibits are usually private property and on private land. Wide shots taken from a public road or space are acceptable.

There are rules against taking photographs for sale of Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square in London. If you have some great ones, send them to us and we'll look into what you can and can't do with them.

We do not take images of the Eiffel Tower at night with its lights on unless it is included in a wide shot of the city of Paris.

We cannot accept pictures of the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris.

The only image of Las Vegas we can take is the 'Welcome to Las Vegas' sign.

Theme parks such as Disney and Universal Studios - we cannot take images of these that were taken within the grounds and of the rides.

Harrassment

It's illegal to harass another person and you should not harass someone in trying to take a photograph of them.

picturenation does not want photographs taken of accidents where the emergency services have been hindered in any way by the photographer. We know this is an increasing problem for the emergency services and we would not encourage anyone to get photographs in this way. But if you're witness to a major newsworthy incident that you have taken photographs of without hindering the emergency services then get in touch with us and we'll take a look at your photos.

National Security

It is an offence under the Official Secrets Act 1911 to take photographs in a 'prohibited place' where this 'might be useful to an enemy'. This can include:

• All defence establishments
• Factories, dockyards, mines, ships and aircraft belonging to the crown.
• Any place where munitions are stored
• Any place belonging to the Crown that has been declared a prohibited place for the time being by order of the Secretary of State
• Any railway, road, or waterway, gas or electricity works that has been declared a prohibited place for the time being by the Secretary of State
• Any place belonging to the Civil Aviation Authority
• Any telecommunications office owned by a public telecommunications operator

You CAN legitimately take photographs in such prohibited places if they are for innocent purposes and not useful to an enemy. But you may find yourself having to prove it in court.

Prevention of Terrorism legislation may also come into play when taking photographs of potentially sensitive areas. The Terrorism Act 2000 gives the police wide powers to stop, search and detain anyone they reasonable suspect of an offence under the Act. The Act makes it an offence to take or possess a photograph containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. In the present climate the police seem to be taking a fairly broad view of 'information likely to be useful'. It is in a photographer's best interests to co-operate with the police if they approach him or her when he or she is taking photos in an area that might be regarded as sensitive.

Court proceedings

It is a criminal offence to take photographs in a law court and an additional offence to publish any photographs taken in a law court. The penalty is a fine of up to £1000. This restriction extends beyond in the building and to 'the precincts of the court', i.e the surrounding area. The extent of the 'precincts of the court' is not defined anywhere, making it difficult for photographers to judge whether or not they are breaking the law and the authorities often turn a blind eye to photography outside the court building.

Tribunals of enquiry are not covered by the prohibition on taking photographs in court, and it is up to the individual tribunal to decide whether it will allow photographs of the proceedings. Photographers should thus seek permission before taking photographs of a tribunal proceeding.

Be aware that, even when it is legal to take photographs it might not be legal to publish them. There are restrictions on the publication of photographs of people involved in legal proceedings, even when these are taken away from the court. These restrictions include:

• Photographs of a defendant in a criminal case during the course of the proceedings if this would create the risk of seriously prejudicing the court of justice.
• Photographs of witnesses in criminal cases, where this would put the witness at risk of harm and where the court has made an order preventing publication.
• Photographs of a victim of a sexual offence, where the publication is likely to lead the public to identify the subject as the victim of the offence. This restriction lasts for the victim's lifetime and not just for the duration of the court proceedings.
• Young people, as defined under the age of 18, are subject to special protection under various statutes. In general, it is an offence to publish any image of a young person or any image that would identify a young person who is involved with any legal proceedings, whether as a party or as a witness. The court can, by order, lift these restrictions.

Wildlife

Many wild animals, including insects, and birds are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. There is no restriction on taking photographs of any animal or bird, but the Act makes it an offence to 'disturb' some species when they are at or near their nesting places or places of shelter. This includes disturbing them by taking photographs of them. To photograph protected species at or near to their nests or places of shelter, a photographer must have a licence from the relevant authority: English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage or the Countryside Council for Wales.

A full list of protected birds can be found at http://www.naturenet.net/law/sched1.html

A full list of protected animals can be found at http://www.naturenet.net/law/sched5.html

Copyright and Trademarks

It will sometimes be an infringement of copyright to take a photograph of a work that is protected by copyright. Qualifying works are protected automatically and there is no system of copyright registration in the UK. Copyright in most works lasts for the life of the creator of the work plus 70 years after their death, though some kinds of work have shorter periods of protection.

Copyright is infringed by making a copy of all or a substantial part of a copyright work, without the consent of the copyright owner. It would, therefore, be an infringement of copyright to take a photograph of a copyright protected artwork, or a photograph of a photograph. It isn't an infringement of copyright to take a photo of, for example, a particular landscape or building even if the same view has been photographed many times before. Each photo would be regarded as an independently created work. But it would be infringement of copyright to deliberately set out to recreate another photographer's photo.

Copyright is not infringed by the incidental inclusion of a copyright work in a photograph. Thus, a portrait of a person which happens to have a painting on the wall behind them would not infringe copyright, nor would a photograph of a street scene in which there was advertising material on display, but this was not the main subject of the photo.

It is not an infringement of copyright to take photographs of buildings, sculptures and works of artistic craftsmanship that are permanently situated in a public place or in premises that are open to the public.

A photograph of a trademark may infringe the rights of the owner of the mark, but generally only where the photo might give the impression that it was produced by or belongs to the trademark owner. Many trademarks and logos are also protected by copyright and artistic works. You can search for trademarks here

Money

Taking photographs of UK bank notes is an offence unless permission has been given in writing by the 'relevant authority'. The relevant authority for English notes is the Bank of England, and for Scottish and Irish notes the relevant authority is the bank that issued the notes.

You can apply for permission to take photographs of English bank notes from the Bank of England website. However, the images can only be sold through a rights managed licence from the Bank of England. As picturenation only sells royalty free images we are therefore unable to accept full frame photographs of English bank notes.

We will accept images of coins.

People's houses

It is picturenation's policy to only accept interior images of properties when they are accompanied by a Property Release form.

Exterior shots of people's homes - we will accept images that have more than one home in them or where the house is not distinctive. If your image is just of one house/home then we ask for a Property release for that image. Owners are often happy to sign forms in return for a copy of the photograph.

Taking pictures on your own property

If you are in your own home or on public property then no permission is need to take and sell a photograph. In privately owned areas that are accessible to the public, like shopping centres and parks then restrictions could apply but the restrictions should be displayed on a notice. You still need to sign a Property Release of the image is inside your house or where the outside subject of the image is your house.

Taking photos of your own family

Even if it's your mum, your husband or your children, your image is restricted for sale unless there is a Model Release form with it. So if you can get one, do.

Artwork/graphics

You cannot take photographs of artwork and offer them for sale unless you are the artist or have a signed model release form from the artists giving you permission to sell the photograph.

Logos

We do accept images that feature logos if they are 'incidental' to the picture. For example, we would accept an image of someone doing the vacuuming with a Dyson or Hoover, and we may or may not accept an image taken specifically of the Dyson. We check each image indiviually and a decision is made based on the actual picture so it is worth submitting. We would accept an image of a person jogging wearing Nike trainers, but we would not accept an image taken that featured the Nike logo in close up. If you're in doubt, send us the picture anyway and we'll take a look.

We do not take close up images of the BA London eye as the BA logo is copyrighted. General wide shots are acceptable.

Private property

If you take a photograph of a private property where the property is the main subject of the photograph then you should get a Property Release Form signed by the owner of that property. You can download a form from this website. We usually do not take single subject private properties without releases.

You can submit photographs of multiple properties or groups of properties or general street scenes without Property Release forms.

Old photos

If you want to submit a photo of a deceased family member then the image must have a model release from signed by the next of kin.

Old Photographs. Copyright term depends on when the photo was taken.

Photographs taken before 1911

Are out of copyright. The owner of such photographs can enter into agreements for others to use them, but cannot claim copyright infringement if they are misused by someone who is not a party to that agreement.

Photographs taken before 1945

In general, copyright will have expired by 1994. There may be revived copyright where the image was protected as of 01/07/1995 under the laws of another EEA state.

Where copyright has revived, it will last for the life of the creator + 70 years.

Photographs taken between 1945 and 1996

These are protected for a term of the life of the creator plus 70 years.

Photographs taken between 01/06/1959 and 01/08/1989 may be protected for 50 years from the date of publication if this is a longer period. (But up to 31/12/2039 at the latest, even if unpublished at 01/08/1989.)

Photographs taken after 01/01/1996

Copyright lasts for the life of the photographer plus 70 years.

If the photographer is unknown:

Copyright lasts for 70 years from the end of the year in which the photo was taken, or If the photo was published during that time, 70 years from the end of the year of publication.

(With thanks to Linda MacPherson, LL.B, Dip.L.P.,LL.M., lecturer in law at Heriot Watt University, for her assistance in compiling our Copyright info)

Disclaimer: Whilst care has been taken to ensure that the information contained in this page about Copyright is accurate, it does not provide a definitive guide to UK Copyright law. The information is here is of a general nature and is not intended to be legal advice. The information is provided without any warranty as to the information it contains, and users are advised to consult a solicitor in respect of any legal problems they encounter.