Wedding Photography and Videography Forum

DVD without copyright?

Hello!

I'm looking for a photographer for my wedding, and it seems very important to try to get copyrights to the images. While I totally understand the artist retaining the copyright, I'd like to know what I can do with the DVDs that I get with the wedding photos. Am I able to print on Snapfish or a similar service with the pictures on a DVD? Or am I only able to print with the photographer since she retains the copyright?

The goal would be to try to save some money on albums/prints, not because I want to post them on facebook or something like that.

Re: DVD without copyright?

  • If you get a copy of the DVD without rights to the photos, you can't print them at all, as far as I understand. If you get rights to the photos (which usually means you and the photographer share printing rights) then you can post and print them as you wish. 

    *this is my understanding, I could be wrong. 

    We originally didn't get the rights to all of our photos, just the ones we pick for an album. I later changed my mind and paid more for the rights so I would have access to them all.
  • As my law school friends explained it to me, if you get a DVD, you can't copy it at all. Copying would be uploading, posting to the internet, printing on photo paper (or computer paper), making a copy of the DVD, etc. Think of the DVD like a coffeetable book you bought on Amazon of photos of famous buildings or whatever. You know you can't scan or photocopy the book to make a basically free copy of the book. You have to buy another book. Same with the DVD. It doesn't matter that they're pictures of you, not the buildings. It doesn't matter that you paid for them to be taken. Buying the DVD is just the one set of images from the DVD.

    If you get the copyright in addition to the DVD, usually you're sharing it with the photographer. This means you can make as many copies as you want, post them to the internet, whatever. Usually, so can your photographer. We have this shared copyright, and sent some photos for newspaper publication, and some to the business where they were taken, for promotional purposes.

    Both scenarios are usually spelled out clearly in photography contracts.

    Lots of photographers include such rights as part of their packages. Our photography package includes these rights, but 0 prints and 0 album. If this is how you want to do things, I suggest you find such photographers.
  • HI!  I'm a part-time professional photographer so I can help answer this.  

    There is actually a difference between copyright and printing rights/release.  It would be rare for a photographer to sell the copyrights to the photos.   If a photographer was to give you copyright to the photos that would mean they are telling you that you can do whatever you like with them- you could claim you took the photos, sell the photos yourself if you wanted. alter the photos in whatever way you like and of course get whatever you like printed. So it would be rare for a photographer to give you the copyright but I don't think from the sounds of that is what you want.  

    You just want printing rights/release.  Purchasing a DVD (or digital negatives) with printing rights allows you to reproduce and print the images as much as you like for personal use but the photographer still retains the copyright (ownership).  Most photographers now do seem to offer the option to purchase a DVD with printing rights so its def something to ask about.   

    One to just be aware of when doing so is that there is def a major difference in the printing from snapfish, walmart and the professional printers that a photographer would be using (or shoudl be using if they are legit).  Especially when it comes to your album I woudl think long and hard about things like if you want your album to be something you could pull out again in 50 years and show to your grandchildren and it will still look nice.  Its very difficult to find a place that you can make professional quality albums (as a photographer I had to get approved to order albums from my printing company) that designed to withstand time on your own.  

    If you are getting regular prints made and have a Costco near you- I do highly reccomend their printing- great quality and SUPER cheap.  I dont use them for clients but I often use them for personal printing (not for albums).  

    I hope that helps clear up the copyright thing/printing rights thing.  
  • Yup, I think what I need is just the release of printing rights in this case. I'll make sure that the prints from the photographer will be a good quality (that I probably couldn't get myself)!

    Thanks!
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