As a photographer (a software developer), I am always aware of protecting my rights under copyright laws. Although not too difficult to understand, I know there are many misconceptions. Note that it is different for the software world, especially when you are working as an employee of a company. What I am concentrating about is for the photography side, which works as creative work, and where your original work of art is protected the moment it is created a “fixed in a tangible medium of expression” (be it printed on paper, or posted in the web). As for the web, there are conflicting ideas and comments on it being considered “published” when posted.
There are always some good questions you may ask
I am not a lawyer and will not be able to give you a long rundown of it, but want to point out a nice recent article by Digital Photo Pro magazine that answers all these questions and more.
(Thanks Mark!)
Zen Moments, tells the story of a cabdriver and a fare he picked up years before and that he’ll remember for the rest of his life.
It goes like this:
Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living.
It was a cowboy’s life, a life for someone who wanted no boss.
What I didn’t realize was that it was also a ministry.
Because I drove the night shift, my cab became a moving confessional. Passengers climbed in, sat behind me in total anonymity, and told me about their lives. I encountered people whose lives amazed me, ennobled me, and made me laugh and weep.
But none touched me more than a woman I picked up late one August night. I was responding to a call from a small brick fourplex in a quiet part of town. I assumed I was being sent to pick up some partyers, or someone who had just had a fight with a lover, or a worker heading to an early shift at some factory for the industrial part of town…
Read the whole story at Zen Moments. A wonderful read. It made my day.
