The Law of Art

While skimming through a book, have you ever taken a snapshot of a photograph with your phone?  What about the internet?  Have you ever taken a photograph with your phone to show someone else?  Most of us are guilty of this action.  We want to remember the photograph that we saw and we want others to see it.  Why purchase the entire book?  Why purchase every photograph when people can help you chose the best? What about saving a photograph and printing it off somewhere else?  Many of us are also guilty of this.

Due to the nature of photography, people constantly fail to realize that photographs are protected under copyright laws and belong to the photographer or artist.  As the use of digital technology in mobile phones and the internet increases, we find more of these copyright laws being taken for granted. 

When I upload photographs to the internet, I trust clients to share them with friends and family on the site they are uploaded to and to aid in the selection process.  When this is violated, the trust for that client is completely gone.  I have had to change the way I operate my business in many ways and add additional rules due to copyright issues.

Many new digital technologies contain cameras making this issue harder on the industry.  Cell phones and the iPodTouch now contain cameras. The iPad will also be coming out with cameras sometime this year.  As the technology for these devices advance, it makes it easier to capture a photograph and look at it later.     

When I see a photograph that I have taken on somebody’s phone or iPod, as long as my trademark continues to be seen, I have no problem with them putting it on their background or showing their friends; it is free advertising and a great way to get your name out there.  It is not until they actually attempt to print my photographs or try to cut the trademark out that the real problem begins. 

Many people do not realize that this issue is very similar to the illegal download of music or videos.  With the invention of the MP3, people are able to pirate music and videos off of the internet and many companies are taking actions against this.  The same is beginning to be true for photographs.  Photographers and other artists are beginning to take action, but not quite to the extent of the music and video industry.  It is very possible that digital technology will make this issue controversial for now and in the future.

The New Age

Digital technology has made a huge impact on photography throughout the years.  With the transition from film to digital photography, technology has created endless possibilities that were never thought to be achievable.

Through my experiences of being a photographer, one of the main things clients look for in photography today is colorful, high quality photographs distributed in a timely manner.  This idea was never possible with traditional photographic machinery.  In past years, it would have taken professional photographers weeks to complete and distribute photographs.  Today, clients can have photographs back to them within just a few days or even hours if using a one-hour kiosk at a local Wal-Mart or Target. 

In addition to having a more immediate developing process and color options, the invention of the digital camera has allowed more people to own a camera and to have the knowledge to use it.  Many cameras include an auto setting that does most the thinking for you.  Even my expensive DSLR camera has an auto setting.  These cameras also allow you to view photographs as they are taken to make sure everything looks good before continuing.  In addition, digital cameras allow you to take hundreds of photographs at a time, unlike older film cameras, and for photos to be deleted if they are considered unusable. 

Although digital technology has made way for several positive improvements in photography, they may also cause concern to people in the industry.  One problem with digital technology in photography is because so many people have access to cameras, there is more competition for photographers, posing a threat to many businesses. 

There is also the dilemma of copyright laws when it comes to digital technology.  Many people print or download photographs illegally from sites, believing they are doing nothing wrong.  In my personal experience, this is a major problem in the industry.  It causes businesses to lose tons of money and to have strict rules for clients.  Many people do not realize that this is an illegal act.         

Throughout this semester, I will be addressing many of these and several other changes digital technology has made in photography.  I will end this post with an interview with a local photographer’s thoughts about digital technology and the impact it has had on his business.

In an interview conducted in August 2010 with Scott Marthaler, who owns LeMar Photography in Wahpeton, ND, he stated that “the transition from film to digital photography was the scariest thing in my career and our studio did not make the switch until 2003.  We wanted to let bigger changes in the digital industry settle in before we made the switch because everything was moving at such a fast rate.”  He also confirmed that “the physical cost of digital has been cheaper for the studio, but during the transition between the two was when our studio had seen cuts for the first time.  When determining cost, it depends what you all want to factor into the equation.  If you factor in personal time, film was much better.  In the amount of time it takes us to prep and prepare digital photographs for 200 seniors, we could have done the same thing with film for 600 seniors.”   Scott feels that digital is here to stay; it is just a matter of what it is going to evolve into.  He believes that it can be your best friend or your worst enemy.