The Questions: Explain why these are of interest to you. What specific concepts and terms were involved – in other words, what are the legal issues?

I am currently attending the Art Institute of Las Vegas, majoring in Digital Photography. With the skills I have, I want to work for an advertising company, then eventually own a photography studio. When my dream becomes reality, I will need to know the ins and outs of the laws. I will need to know about intellectual property, which is when "writers, inventors, and artists transform ideas into tangible property"(Patent, Copyright &Trademark, Richard Stim, Your Legal Companion, pg 1). With my career choice of being a photographer, it is also important that I am especially familiar with the copyright law. Why you may ask? "Copyright gives the owner of a creative work the right to keep others from unauthorized use of the work" (Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Richard Stim, Copyright Law: Overview, pg 190). And with that said, it is important to know that “Copyright law does not protect ideas and facts, only the manner in which those ideas and facts are expressed” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Richard Stim, Introduction, pg 5). Overall, I want to make sure what I can and cannot do, what is the best for my future business, and also be prepared with every aspect of the photography world. Therefore, I spoke to a lawyer that works for Cane Clarke LLP.

Here are my questions that was asked.

Student Name Kristine Alberto

Class BUS250H Contracts, Negotiations and Copyrights

District or Firm’s Name: Cane Clarke LLP

1. What rights do I retain when using company software?

2. In a series of photographs, do I copyright individually or as a series?

3. What is the average price to keep an attorney on retainer?

4. If you do a design, etc. for a client and are not paid for it, does the actual design belong to you or the client?

5. Do salaried employees have any rights to finished products?

6. If I took a scene from Alice and Wonderland and used that scene as a reference and did a photo shoot from that reference, am I infringing any laws?

7. If someone like the photography assistant, model, or anyone else on set, gets hurt at my photo shoot, am I liable?

8. Should I create a contract before the photo shoot to prevent that and pass them out to everyone on set?

9. Can I use photographs that have no release documentation (ie model release forms, location release forms) into a portfolio or a book?


10. When is point of creation, rough or final product?