Photography Law & Legal

It’s that time of year again, and no, I don’t mean last night's Super Bowl. Tax season is upon us and for many creative professionals it can either be a joyous occasion or one filled with dread. 

A photographer faces a legal battle with her local child safety department after uploading a photo of her husband cradling their sick son in the shower. 

How would you react if you found yourself in the unfortunate predicament of Supermodel Tyra Banks posting several of your images to her legions of followers without credit or permission? 

*Update - as of February 6th, Banks has deleted the images from her Instagram. Original story below:

A renowned photojournalist has spoken out after she was forced to cancel her planned attendance at the World Press Photo event in Amsterdam due to complications from Trump’s travel ban. 

Don't worry. They're using crash test dummies. By using biomechanics and crash test science, Virginia Tech is hoping to help develop regulations that would allow drones to be flown over people in the future. 

From the "this is why we have rules" department comes news that a drone pilot has been been convicted of reckless endangerment in a 2015 crash that knocked a Seattle woman unconscious. 

File this one under things not to do with your drone. A Seattle drone pilot is facing possible charges after crashing their device on top of the iconic Space Needle.  

News came yesterday that the Lily drone would not be released and preorders would be refunded. The company indicated an inability to secure the funds needed for a production run, despite having raised $34 million. However, Lily Robotics failed to mention that they are also being sued by the San Francisco district attorney for false advertising and unfair business practices. 

A car review channel on YouTube has recently been caught using Philip Bloom’s footage without a license. What’s worse? They used it often enough that they racked up a potential copyright claim for £80,000.

I'll admit, I was a little shocked when I came across Henri Kack's Reddit post last week. That's right, the band notorious for taking down Napster in the Northern California Lawsuit filed in December of 1999, is now being accused of using an image from a concert photographer/fan without permission.

Remember artist Richard Prince? If you don’t know him by name, you’ll know him by scandal.

Those of us working within the creative industry are often held captive to an unwritten rule: working for free. No other field suffers the same stigma; we don’t expect our laywers, our handymen, or our child-minders to work without payment. So, why is it so often expected that we will? 

A prominent civil rights attorney and Arkansas state representative who sponsored the passage of a 2015 bill protecting the right of citizens to film events in public places was arrested along with another attorney today while filming police. 

Last year I reported on Pixsy​ a start-up which was aiming to tackle copyright infringement for photographers. It looked promising but after giving it a test run I was left a bit under whelmed. Copyright issues plague our industry and many folks are desperately seeking a solution.

Photographer Carol Highsmith has filed a suit against Getty Images seeking damages of $1 billion, alleging "gross misuse" of her photographs and copyright infringement. 

You might remember a recent story in which an athletic sponsor was forbidden from referencing the Olympics when reporting on one of their athletes. It seems the US Olympic Committee is now clamping down all the more, issuing very stringent restrictions. 

After Oiselle, sponsor of runner Kate Grace, posted photos congratulating the athlete on qualifying for the Olympics, they received word from the U.S. Olympic Committee telling them to remove the images. 

The ACLU recently released a list of the rights of photographers, but of course, these apply specifically to those in the United States. Here's a great video for those of you who reside in the UK. 

Two days after a heated and scary exchange in which a man almost ran over a photographer with his vehicle, there's good news: the person involved has been arrested and charged with multiple offenses.  

Knowing your rights as a photographer is important, particularly if you spend a lot of time working outside or in public places. The American Civil Liberties Union has released a list of rights that any photographer should be aware of. 

The DJI Geospatial Environment Online (GEO) is the company's built-in system for helping drone operators abide by airspace rules and regulations. Today, DJI has released a major update for the system that should go a long way in augmenting responsible flying and preventing incidents. 

Be careful what you sign. Recently, a photographer was given a copy of the Vice Media Photographer Agreement and was very taken aback by what it contained.  

Today brings great news for commercial drone operators. The FAA has finalized the Part 107 rules, which bring with them relaxed requirements. Experts estimate the new rules could generate $82 billion and 100,000 jobs for the U.S. economy in the next 10 years. 

Nearly 300 years ago, the infamous Pirate Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge (QAR), sank off the coast of North Carolina near Beaufort Inlet. A private salvage firm, Intersal, found a cluster of cannons and other artifacts in late 1996 on the seabed near the inlet. State archeologists later confirmed it was the wreckage of the QAR.

Paris-based Photojournalist Maya Vidon-White on Saturday called it "good news for photojournalism." But in a New York Times article, she is quoted as saying: "I don't feel a total sense of relief." Vidon-White was facing criminal charges in France for a photo she took of a victim of the November 2015 terror attacks in Paris, which was then sold to United Press International

Despite being the largest Native American tribe in the United States, the Navajo Nation lost part of a lawsuit against Urban Outfitters because they could not prove that they were famous enough to own the rights to the aesthetic. 

One of the biggest concerns about drones is their usage around airports. Several recent close calls have left the government scrambling to continue to catch up to the quickly evolving capabilities and usages of the flying cameras. The FAA is now testing a new system for detecting unauthorized drones near airports. 

Despite the explosion of interest in drones with cameras, one place you're not likely to see them used in the near future is commercial television newsrooms. A just released annual survey by the Radio Television Digital News Association and Hoftsra University reveals most stations have not used drones with cameras and don't plan on using them. Why you ask? That makes no sense.

It seems like at least once a week I find myself having a conversation with a filmmaker or photographer who is struggling to understand the current state of rules, with regard to the commercial use of drones. And who can blame them? Digging through the FAA's website to get clear information is a painful exercise, and things continue to change every few months.

Having your images stolen at one point or another is virtually a formality when it comes to being a photographer. It’s frustrating, not least when it happens through one of your customers. One new website claims to have the solution to make sure you never get ripped off again. 

The French government is warning parents to think twice about posting photos of their children online, as doing so could carry harsh penalties, including a year in prison and a $50,000 fine. 

Just in time for 2016, the FAA released a registration system and will require anyone currently operating unmanned aerial systems (UAS), otherwise known as "drones," to register by February 19 of this year.

The legalization of marijuana is a major issue in the United States currently. As the social landscape continues to evolve, one photographer noticed that its pictorial representation was lagging behind and took it upon herself to update its image. 

In a move that places it in line with many other European countries, France has instituted a law that bans underweight fashion models. Those that violate the new law face strict penalties for doing so.  

The Verge reported Tuesday that British hydrogen fuel cell technology company Intelligent Energy has been successfully testing a miniaturized version of a hydrogen fuel cell as part of a drone system with the intent to increase flight times.

When the terrorist organization, ISIS, isn't busy terrorizing people, they are apparently busy stealing photographer's artwork. In this day and age, it's not uncommon to have your work stolen. Heck, it's pretty common. But having the bane of the earth stealing your work has to be a new experience. That's not the end of the story though. It gets worse.

The FAA has been working on establishing rules and regulations for drone owners for several months, and today they have announced a mandatory registration law for drone operators that goes into effect on December 21 of this year. Starting on December 21, you will be to apply at the new FAA registration website. 

Have you been trying to think of creative ways to use your skills with a camera for the good of your community? Well look no further! In Jacksonville, FL a vigilante photography group calling themselves, "Photography Is Not a Crime" is doing just that.  

As the legal situation involving drones continues to evolve and registration becomes an inevitability, many "drone registration" firms have begun to spring up. The FAA has made it a point to note that drone owners do not need to jump the gun, as registration is likely to be a simple and straightforward process, easily completable without outside assistance. 

If you spent even a moderate amount of time on Facebook back in late September, you likely saw a viral video and photo about a wedding photographer who captured a genuinely heartwarming moment in which a bride's biological father stopped the wedding procession to grab the step-father from his seat so they could both walk her down the aisle.

AIG's recent move to begin insuring unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) marked the beginning of the first large, national insurance company to get ahead of (or catch up with) the "drone movement." Like this season's migration of Canadian geese, everyone seems to be flocking in droves, clearly intent on getting to the online shopping outlets and local electronics stores that sell the

Not so surprisingly faster than the FAA, apparently, AIG sprung into action to allow drone operators and owners to purchase insurance that covers not only their drone and camera equipment, but also a number of other terrible things that can happen while you're piloting a UAV. 

We’ve long passed the beginning of the end and are now certainly in middle-of-the-end territory with respect to the freedom to fly drones. The latest high-profile drone incident further ensures that drone piloting will remain a privilege and not a right, though rightly so, as some people apparently can’t exercise enough common sense to stay away from populated areas (i.e.

Recently the New York Times revealed a staggering truth about modern photojournalism that has the field's ethics under scrutiny. It appears the acts of staging and manipulating images have become prevalent, which puts the field as a whole in question. Photojournalism is about capturing the truth and journalist often work under a strict code that incudes observation only.

According to NBC News, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is getting close to announcing new rules for recreational drone use, beginning with the requirement to register every drone a person buys.