Who Owns the Photos?

Many people believe that because they paid to have photos taken, they own the photos. They don’t. The photographer always owns the photos unless there is a contract that states otherwise. It’s called Intellectual Property Rights.

Think of Spotify. Just because you pay to listen to the music, doesn’t mean you own the music. It’s the same with photography. You pay to use the photos, not to own them. That means you can’t “give” or “share” them with anyone else, unless you have permission from the photographer.

Let’s say a house is sold to someone who now wants to do short-term rentals with it. The new owner asks the listing agent, who paid to have the photos taken, if he can use the photos to promote that house on short-term rental websites. The answer is no. But the new homeowner can purchase the photos from the photographer. It’s win-win. No new photo shoot needed, the owner gets use of the photos, and the photographer gets paid for a second-use situation.

Here’s another situation: an architect hires a photographer to photograph a house she designed. The builder see the photos and wants to use them on his websites. The builder needs to pay the photographer an additional usage fee. Sometimes this scenario starts out differently, with all players on board at the beginning. If that is the case, the photographer will adjust the usage fee to accommodate all users.

If you want more detail about this topic, here’s a good resource for more info about this topic: PhotoZone.