Photography Copyright Information

Even though I hesitate to make a serious business out of my photography I decided that it was time to research what I need to do to protect my pictures that are floating around on the internet via my blog.

I was inspired yesterday after perusing a website built by another Navy wife here in Sicily, Pinch My Salt. She has built an amazing site based on food and life and recently won an award for best food blog.

As I scanned her "about me" section I noticed the copyright information she had posted. The link led me to creativecommons.org. Still unsure as to what their purpose was I navigated to the FAQs and then clicked a link to the copyright.gov website and clicked on Copyright Basics.

Here are a few of the things that I learned (items in bold are quoted from the copyright.gov website):

1. Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. Basically this means that from the moment I put pen to paper or click the shutter on my camera and an image exists on my memory card that work is protected by copyright law.
2. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright.
3. The use of a copyright notice is no longer required under U.S. law, although it is often beneficial.
4. The notice for visually perceptible copies should contain all the following three elements: The symbol © (the letter C in a circle), or the word “Copyright,” or the abbreviation “Copr.”; The year of first publication of the work; The name of the owner of copyright in the work. (Example: © 2006 John Doe)
5. Copyright registration is not a condition of copyright protection...however copyright registration provides several advantages such as before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin. (Visit copyright.gov for complete list)

Once I had a general understanding of the basics I went back to the creativecommons.org website. Reading through their FAQ I discovered the following:

Creative Commons licenses give you the ability to dictate how others may exercise your copyright rights—such as the right of others to copy your work, make derivative works or adaptations of your work, to distribute your work and/or make money from your work.

I decided to utilize their website to develop code to post on my personal blog, establishing what uses my photos may and may not be used for. I was also able to download graphics to imprint onto my pictures as a reminder that they are protected by copyright laws and are licensed for limited uses.

I feel like a weight has been lifted. I knew that I needed to research and understand copyright basics but, as with anything legal, I was intimidated and didn't want to misunderstand or miss something. It was much simpler than I expected.

Disclaimer: This website does not offer legal advice. If you are interested in copyrighting your work please start by visiting copyright.gov to see how the laws apply to you.

The things I think about when I'm trying to sleep

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." Confucius

How many times have you heard this quote or some derivative of it? It sounds good in theory, but my personal experience has been that doing something you love and trying to earn a living at it can bleed the passion from what you once loved.

When I applied to colleges I was convinced that I wanted to major in music. I loved music. I played piano, clarinet, and had played with a number of accomplished ensembles. Making a career out of my passion seemed like a great idea. Unfortunately the reality wasn't what I expected.

My freshman year of college completely changed the way I looked at my talents, and drained a great deal of the passion that I had for music. In the past I had always excelled in music classes and in my lessons. Even through the classroom work in college I did well, but it was in my college level lessons that I faltered.

I took lessons from the department chair, supposedly the best teacher on campus and was sorely disappointed. I was hardly his star pupil and though he was never outright rude he made it known in other ways that I wasn't very high on his priority list. For example, he rarely showed up for my lessons on time. When I asked about this he said it was my responsibility to find him...I ran this by a couple of my peers, other pianists that were far more accomplished than I and were also taking lessons from him, and they were appalled and expressed that they had never had a similar problem with him. Little things like this hit my confidence pretty hard.

I switched teachers and found a great instructor. He was attentive and I felt like I was finally starting to make progress and my love of the piano was being revived. Unfortunately when I received my report card I was stunned to see that I had received less than an 'A' (I don't remember what the grade was, only that it wasn't an 'A'). I was crushed. I had worked so hard but when I asked my instructor about the grade I was told that I hadn't made 'A' level progress.

My decision to switch majors didn't happen overnight, but a less than good grade in piano lessons was the catalyst that started me thinking in new directions. I needed a career that I didn't dread waking up to do every day and one that I was good at. That is why I chose business. I love my business, my job. I enjoy the customers that I've worked with and the work that I've done for them. It isn't what I'd choose to do in my time off but I've discovered that mixing my artistic passions and the demands of a career can drain me of my inspiration.

The decision to pursue a business degree was made about ten years ago and again I am facing a similar dilemma. I love photography. I love it when others see my work and it makes them feel something positive. It is a tremendous compliment when someone buys my work. Lately my husband has been encouraging me to do more to market my pictures, but I'm scared that making it a "job" will take the fun out of it. I don't want my artwork to become something I have to do.

Artistic inspiration cannot be forced and the moment I'm put on the spot I get a mental block about what to do next. I need to be inspired, without that my work is lifeless, forced, and mediocre.

I'm still trying to find a way to follow Confucius' advice, but until I figure it out I probably need to keep my job and hobbies separate. I still play music, but not at the level or with the passion that I once did. I don't want to lose my passion for photography.

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Now playing: James Horner - Through The Fires, Achilles... And Immortality
via FoxyTunes