The world of photography is full of colours, borne from the images it harbours. For some, images are cherished forms of art. For others, something to use in this modern age, such as online profiles or simply sharing photos with Facebook friends. And then, of course, some who make them using their cameras. The universe in which photos gravitate is such that, to the unaware, it can be the Wild West. Pictures come easily up for grabs without regard to those who produce them – the copyright owner. But is this online world such a chaotic place that the idea of ownership is entirely out of the picture (pun intended)?
No, not really. Although photos are easy to access from Facebook, in most cases, someone can own them. Depending on the category they fall in, such digital assets can either be free for use completely, free for use with some caveats, or not free for use at all. Why? Even though many of us may not be aware of it at first, there are licenses attached to images we see on social media or those shared by friends. There is a law that enforces the do’s and don’t’s of image use.
For the Filipino community, there is an overabundance of photos. Although we could also quickly grab and share these photos from Facebook or anywhere online, we should also be careful, especially if the photographer is a professional. Friends may be forgiven for not giving them the proper credit, but professional photographers are on a whole different level.
It is so easy to use other people’s photos and repost them on our social media accounts, such as Facebook. By doing so, we are technically saying those photos are our own and bypassing the real, original owners of those photos. Reposting these photos on your Facebook timeline may not have serious repercussions except not respecting the owner. The problem arises when you use those photos in any professional work, such as book publishing, which has its own set of rules and regulations. In this place, copyright law is king, and anybody who dares stray from the established guidelines can be punished.
But who does the copyright law protect, and why is it needed in the first place? Essentially, this question boils down to whether or not photography is an unregulated market, which, it should be noted, it is. For the most part, this is intended to honor the creators of the images. They produce pictures that gather our fancy through their creative effort and expensive tools. Imagine a world where professional photographers never get credit for their work despite spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on high-quality equipment. A photographer can spend $10,000 on expensive cameras, lenses, and other accessories. Photography is a serious business to these people, so imagine when we just grab and use their photos without permission or credit.
In a digital age where claiming images is as easy as clicking a button, shutterbugs are vulnerable to having their photographs stolen. But this should not be the case—we must give credit to whom credit is due, as the great Caesar would put it.
READ MORE
