Engagement Announcement

mss274

My Dad really wants to announce our engagement in the local newspaper. I wanted to use a photo from our Engagement pictures. Now that I have them, I am unsure if we are legally allowed to put engagement photos in the newspaper? The photos have the photographer's copyright information in the background so I think this would be fine but I wanted to see if anyone else did this before I have my Dad submit to the newspaper.

Thanks!

SSaltzman87

Most photographers automatically give you the rights to your photos, if they don't- run! If you have the rights to them, you can do whatever you want with them.

melb2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_may-2013-weddings_engagement-announcement?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:ea657a87-d1dc-4588-999f-31c9deeef720Discussion:a5ddfd4f-6cb8-420a-bc42-11458a6d5c86Post:61787873-54af-4031-9fed-5c913f2d6b19">Re: Engagement Announcement</a>:
[QUOTE]Most photographers automatically give you the rights to your photos, if they don't- run! If you have the rights to them, you can do whatever you want with them.
Posted by SSaltzman87[/QUOTE]

<div>I actually disagree with this.  Because of my career, I've had to work with tons of photographers.  The really good ones take pride in their work and don't automatically give away their copyrights.  I've worked with photographer who do it both ways, and the ones who retain their rights are always better.  Photos are intellectual property that shouldn't be handed out easily.  I would never just give away my copyright to my song without being paid specifically for it.</div><div>
</div><div>This is something that you should have looked into and factored into the price before you signed a contract.  If the photos still have a watermark on them, you do not have the right to put them in a paper, and most likely, the paper will not accept the photo.  You need to contact your photograher and get written permission to use the images- at that point, the photographer should send you a photo without the watermark.</div>

mss274

 We have the rights for the wedding photos but wasn't sure if Engagement Photos were separate. I will check. Thanks for the feedback!

SSaltzman87

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_may-2013-weddings_engagement-announcement?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:ea657a87-d1dc-4588-999f-31c9deeef720Discussion:a5ddfd4f-6cb8-420a-bc42-11458a6d5c86Post:5b3f43a6-9a5b-4b1a-a942-f19d7e73897b">Re: Engagement Announcement</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Engagement Announcement : I actually disagree with this.  Because of my career, I've had to work with tons of photographers.  The really good ones take pride in their work and don't automatically give away their copyrights.  I've worked with photographer who do it both ways, and the ones who retain their rights are always better.  Photos are intellectual property that shouldn't be handed out easily. <strong> I would never just give away my copyright to my song without being paid specifically for it. </strong>
Posted by melb2013[/QUOTE]
This is a good point. But of course in this case, you ARE paying the photographer to take these pictures of you. It's not like they're doing it completely free. I do understand what you're saying though :-)

melb2013

Often musicians get hired to write songs, but they will always retain the copyright, unless it a specified situation.  

mss274: I'm sending an engagement annoucement to our local paper too.  When are you planning on doing it?  I kind of feel like now might be early, but I can't make up my mind.

mss274

We've been engaged about 10 months now so I thought we were behind on the announcement! haha so probably within the next month.