Copyright Law
- Under the Federal Copyright Act of 1976, photographs are protected by copyright from the moment of creation.
- Photographers have the exclusive right to reproduce their photographs (right to control the making of copies).
- Unless you have permission from the photographer, you can’t copy, distribute (no scanning, sharing or sending them to others), publicly display (no putting them online), or create derivative works from photographs.
- Copyright infringements—reproducing photos without permission—can result in civil and criminal penalties.