Two areas of law sit under every photographer’s marketing. Most agencies have read neither, and both decide which images can go where.
The copyright is yours by default. The US Copyright Office’s Circular 42 says the author and initial copyright owner of a photograph is generally the person who takes it. The exception is a work made for hire, and Circular 30 limits commissioned work to nine listed categories, such as a contribution to a collective work or part of a motion picture, and only with a written agreement both sides sign. A wedding or a family session is not on that list. So the client normally receives a license to use the images, often called a print release, while the copyright stays with you. Say so in the contract in plain words; the clients who believe they bought the copyright are the ones who are surprised later. This is our reading of the Office’s own circulars, not legal advice, and a contract review is worth an hour of an attorney’s time.
Registration is what makes it enforceable. Circular 1 says you need a registration, or a refusal, before you can sue for infringement, and that registering before the infringement, or within three months of publication, makes statutory damages, attorney’s fees and costs available. Circular 42 lets one group registration cover up to 750 photographs by the same author, all published in the same calendar year or all unpublished. When a competitor lifts your best wedding onto their own site, that is the difference between asking nicely and having a remedy. A portfolio rebuild is a natural moment to register the set.
Your client’s face is theirs. Owning the photograph does not mean you may advertise with the person in it. California Civil Code 3344 makes it actionable to use someone’s photograph or likeness in advertising without prior consent, or a parent’s or guardian’s consent for a minor, with damages of at least $750. The American Society of Media Photographers advises a release for any commercial use, including self-promotion, and treats a website, a mailer and a portfolio as uses that need one. Other states have their own statutes.
Drone coverage needs a certificate. If your site or ads offer aerial shots, the FAA’s Part 107 rules apply to small drones flown for business, which means passing the knowledge test for a Remote Pilot Certificate first.
What we do with all this: before any client image goes into an ad, we ask to see the release clause. Where there is none, the ads use images that are covered, and new contracts get a clause with an opt-out and a separate parent signature for children’s sessions.
