Best Business Practices for Photographers, Third Edition, 3rd Edition

Chapter 31

Protecting Your Work: How and Why

The thing about copyright is that it’s your right. Hence “copy” and “right.” You have been given a limited monopoly over your creative endeavors to give you the incentive to create more. After you’re gone, and then after 75 years, your work belongs to your family or estate, and they can continue to benefit from your genius. Later, it becomes wholly owned by the public, and anyone can do whatever they want with your endeavors.

I think this is pretty great. I have been given the incentive to be a photographer, and I own my work. I can recall with great detail the environment surrounding most of the photos I’ve made. Often I can recall the weather, the challenges of the client, the lighting setup, and ...