Whose are All These Photos on the Internet?

What is a copyrighted work? What rights does the author have? What is forbidden and what is allowed? Copyright is not so simple, so most people are not sufficiently informed when it comes to photos available online. This often results in the unauthorized use of such photographs and, therefore, copyright infringement.

For ease of understanding, here is a current example

The record label of American rapper Puff Daddy (P-diddy, Diddy), Bad Boy Records is currently facing a serious lawsuit filed against them for copyright infringement. Because of just one photo posted on Instagram featuring Puff Daddy, surrounded by a group of students.

We assume that representatives of this publishing company came across a photo on the internet and simply decided to post it on their client’s Instagram profile. Perhaps because of the fact that their client is the one in the photo, they did not see anything in dispute.

Still, the author of this photo is a professional photographer, McDermott, who registered the controversial photo with the US Copyright Office before selling it to the New York Post for publication alongside an article on Puff Daddy.

Shortly after the article was posted, the photo also appeared on the popular rapper’s Instagram profile, which was reason enough for McDermott to file a lawsuit against Bad Boy Records for tampering with the photo.

Many celebrities have faced the problem of copyright infringement on the internet, so this example is by no means alone case in practice.

What does our copyright and related rights law provide?

An author’s work is defined as an original spiritual creation of the author, expressed in a certain form, regardless of its artistic, scientific or other value, its purpose, size, content and manner of expression, as well as the permissibility of public communication of its contents.

Of course, the author has exclusive rights to the reproduction of the work, the right to economically exploit the work and the right to prohibit any unauthorized use of the work by third parties. In addition, he has the right to be clearly identified as the author at every public announcement of the work.

Is it necessary to register a copyrighted work?

Unlike in the US, our legislation, as well as European legislation, does forsee the possibility of registering an author’s work, which means that the author enjoys legal protection from the moment the work is created. So, if you make a photo with your camera or phone and then post it on, say, your blog, that photo will be considered your publicly published work. In this sense, the mere fact that the work was created is sufficient that the author can invoke his protection and it is not necessary to carry out any formalities such as registration, registration of the work and the like. It is not even necessary for the work to be published, or even completed, for the author to enjoy legal protection.

While this is good on the one hand, this kind of solution creates difficulties when it comes to having to prove that the photo is yours. Still, there are ways to protect the author from potential harm.

Conclusion and advice

While you may be aware that a photo you post on your site, blog, social media profile will be accessible to millions of users around the world, this does not mean that anyone who likes this photo can use it without your permission. You also need to be careful if you want to use someone else’s expression that is considered copyrighted by law because you run the risk of being sued for copyright infringement.

So you need to be aware that the law protects authors and their copyrighted works that are viewed as property other than property such as a car or apartment. We will reiterate that, under our Copyright and Related Rights Law, all works are protected at the time of creation, so one must be extra careful.

Therefore, you need to be aware of your rights so that in the case of infringement by third parties you will know how to protect your copyright as well as the moral and property rights that belong to you and also not to hurt someone else’s.