legal pitfalls

when a graphics designer is working with images they have to take into account some of the legal implications that might restrict them from certain things

copyright

Under law, it is the photographer who will own copyright on any photos he/she has taken, with the following exceptions:

If the photographer is an employee of the company the photos are taken for, or is an employee of a company instructed to take the photos, the photographer will be acting on behalf of his/her employer, and the company the photographer works for will own the copyright.

If there is an agreement that assigns copyright to another party.

In all other cases, the photographer will retain the copyright, if the photographer has been paid for his work, the payment will be for the photographer’s time and typically an allocated number of prints. The copyright to the photos will remain with the photographer, and therefore any reproduction without permission would be an infringement of copyright.

As with all copyright work, you should first obtain permission from the copyright owner before you use someone else’s work.You should also be prepared to pay a fee, as many photographers will charge you for using their work.

Only the copyright owner, (or his/her authorised representative), can give permission, so you should contact the photographer, or his/her company, directly for consent. For images published on the Internet, it is typical to contact the webmaster of the site in the first instance, unless the site provides contact details for the owner of the images.

The copyright owner has no obligation to allow you to use their work, and can refuse permission for any reason.

the obscene publication rule is when distributing graphics the designer will also have to take into acount the age range it is being shown to therefore it has to be appropriate for its age range eg it wouldn't be appropriate to have pictures of guns on a website for young children. this will also apply to religion and other beliefs