It is illegal to reproduce photographs taken by a professional photographer or other copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright owner even if it does not include a © symbol or wording.

As with any image, your possession of a copy of an image does not give you any rights to use it as you wish. Only the copyright owner, or the owner's legal agent, can give you permission to copy, distribute, or publicly display the image.

If you have something you would like to do and you are not sure if you need our written permission please contact us. Don't face the following consequences.

VIOLATING COPYRIGHT LAWS

Actual Damages & profits -
The copyright owner is entitled to recover the actual damages suffered by him or her as a result of the infringement, and any profits of the infringer that are attributable to the infringement and are not taken into account in computing the actual damages.

Statutory Damages -
The copyright owner may elect at any time before judgment is rendered, to recover, instead of actual damages and profits, an award of statutory damages for all infringements involved in the action, with respect to any one work, in a sum of not less than $750 or more than $30,000 as the court considers just.

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of "original works of authorship," including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

1. To reproduce the work in copies.
2. To prepare derivative works based upon the work
3. To distribute copies of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending.
4. To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works.
5. To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work.

It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the copyright law to the owner of copyright. However, limited uses of copyrighted works are permitted upon payment of specified royalties and compliance with statutory conditions. For further information about the limitations of any of these rights, consult the copyright law or write to the Copyright Office.

HOW LONG COPYRIGHT PROTECTION ENDURES?

Works Originally Created on or after January 1, 1978

A work that is created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author's life plus an additional 70 years after the author's death. In the case of "a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire," the term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author's death. For works made for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author's identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

If you would like any other information on copyrights or copyright laws, please go to:
US Copyright Office's Web Site (http://www.loc.gov/copyright/)