The U.S. Constitution and the Federal Copyright Act give "copyright"
protection to "authors" for their "original works," such as photographs. 
Among the protections that copyright owners have are the exclusive

right to: 1.  Make copies of their work;

          2.  Prepare other works based on the original;

          3.  Distribute copies of the work to the public by sale, rental,
lease, or lending, and;
         
4.  To publicly perform and display the work. These rights are protected by
laws which provide for damages and criminal penalties for violations.

  The law says the "author" is the owner of the copyright. The author of a photo
or image is usually the person who snapped the shutter or created the image.
If you took the photo, you own the copyright. If a professional photographer took
the photo for you, then he or she owns the copyright. If that photographer is an
employee of a studio or other person in the business of making photos
(i.e., Naturally Yours Photography Studios etc..),
then his or her employer is considered the author and therefore the copyright
holder. Prior to 1978, court cases said a customer who commissioned a photo was
the employer of the photographer, so customers could get reprints made without
any problem. In 1989, the Supreme Court said that was no longer true. To be
an employee, the court said a person would have to be considered an employee
under the traditional tests such as are used to impose payroll taxes, social security,
and similar laws. That is not the usual customer-photographer relationship.

  The primary reason is economic. Photographers feel that they invest
alot of time and creative energy in getting the experience, and setting
the camera, pose, lighting, background and extra shots to get the right
one.  They generally price their services by taking into account the fact
that customers will purchase their prints from the photographer.  If the
prints are obtained elsewhere, the photographer loses the opportunity
to recover a fee for the effort expended. Thus, the photographer wants
the customer to come to him or her to request reprints so an
appropriate fee can be charged.

Some photographers charge a realistic fee "up front" to compensate
for their services, whether or not prints are ordered. They may or may
not authorize the customer to have the prints made anywhere. 

All photographs and text appearing on this site are the exclusive property
of NYP Studios or its models or the respective photographers listed and are
protected under United States and international copyright laws. The photographs
may only be used for personal use, and may not be reproduced, copied, stored,
manipulated,  projected, used or altered in any way, including without limitation any
digitalization or synthesizing of the images, alone or with any other material, by use
of computer or other electronic means or any other method or means now or here
after known, without the written permission of Naturally Yours Photography and
payment of a fee or arrangement thereof. No images are within Public Domain.
Use of any image as the basis for another photographic concept or illustration
is a violation of copyright. By entering this site you are agreeing to be bound
by the terms of this agreement. Entrance to site is expressly on these
conditions whichembodies all of the understandings and obligations
between the parties hereto.

All entries to this site have been logged and dated.

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