Coady Photography's comments about copyright:

Copyright is most often infringed simply because it is misunderstood. Thanks for taking the time to review our copyright policy.

It is illegal to scan, copy, or reproduce in any way a professional copyright image. We have to earn an income like everyone else. Our business is SELLING photography and we certainly appreciate your understanding. Possession of one of our photos or electronic images does NOT constitute the right to scan, copy, or reproduce it in any way without the expressed written consent of Coady Photography.

Some quick tips about copyright:

* Photographs are copyrighted the moment they are taken, and no copyright notice is required.
* Postings to the Internet are not granted to the public domain, and such postings don't grant any permission to do further copying.
* The "fair use" exemption to U.S. copyright law was created to allow things such as commentary, parody, news reporting, research and education about copyrighted works without the permission of the author, anything outside of those areas is considered a violation.
* Copyright is not lost because you don't defend it; that's a concept from trademark law.
* Work derived from a copyrighted work is a copyright violation. A derivative is defined as any form of changing an original copyright piece, i.e. lighten/darken, crop, rotate, filter, combined with other images, etc. still a violation.
* Copyright law is mostly civil law where the special rights of criminal defendants you hear so much about don't apply. However, recently in the USA commercial copyright violation involving more than 10 copies and value over $2500 was considered a felony.

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of "original works of authorship," including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.

WHAT IS THE PUBLIC DOMAIN?

The public domain is not a place. A work of authorship is in the "public domain" if it is no longer under copyright protection or if it failed to meet the requirements for copyright protection. Works in the public domain may be used freely without the permission of the former copyright owner.

WHO MAY PREPARE A DERIVATIVE WORK?

Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work. The owner is generally the author or someone who has obtained rights from the author. Anyone interested in a work who does not know the owner of copyright may search the records of the Copyright Office.

COPYRIGHT PROTECTION IN A DERIVATIVE WORK

The copyright in a derivative work covers only the additions, changes, or other new material appearing for the first time in the work. It does not extend to any preexisting material and does not imply a copyright in that material.

One cannot extend the length of protection for a copyrighted work by creating a derivative work. A work that has fallen in the public domain, that is, which is no longer protected by copyright, may be used for a derivative work, but the copyright in the derivative work will not restore the copyright of the public domain material. Neither will it prevent anyone else from using the same public domain work for another derivative work. In any case where a protected work is used unlawfully, that is, without the permission of the owner of copyright, copyright will not be extended to the illegally used part.

FAIR USE

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or photo records or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include �

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors