TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
COPYRIGHT
Under the new
COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS ACT 2000
the owner of the Copyright of a Photograph is
THE PHOTOGRAPHER.
It is illegal to Copy, Scan, Reproduce or Store in any medium
a Photograph without the permission, in writing, of the Photographer.
The Irish Professional Photographers Association and it's members request that
you observe this new law and wish you to know that they intend to pursue,
through the courts, if necessary, any person or company who are in breach of this
law.
In the Copyright Act of 1963, the owner of the copyright of a photograph was the
Commissioner. This new law, which came into effect on 1st January 2001, states
that the owner of copyright of a photograph is the Photographer.
Maria Dunphy
Hon. Secretary IPPA
The Act states that:
140 (7) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1), (3) or (4) shall be liable±
(a)
on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,500 in respect of each infringing copy, article or
device, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both,
or
(b)
on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €100,000, or to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding 5 years or both.
The Act also states on page 32, that:
(12) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so
committed with the consent, connivance or approval of or to be attributable to any neglect on the part
of a person being a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, or any other
person who was acting or purporting to act in any such capacity, that person as well as the body
corporate shall be guilty of an offence and be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or
she were guilty of the first mentioned offence.
Also on page 77 it says that the District Court may have articles or devices specifically designed or
adapted for making copies for a work, that have infringed the act, destroyed, delivered up or otherwise
dealt with as the Court may think fit.
This means that if you purchase an image using a Press and PR licence and use it for any other purpose, you are in breach of the law. If you download an image and distribute it to a third party for use outside of the licence, such as giving it to someone so they can make a print for themselves, you are in breach of the law.
Photographs are valuable, not free.
Thank you for abiding by the law.
Brendan Lyon, professional photographer.
Thanks to the IPPA www.irishphotographers.com for this information.
