Re: digital-copyright Digest 3 Feb 2010 16:00:00 -0000 Issue 963

[Peggy Hoon <peggy_hoon@xxxxxxxx>]

Dee,

If your faculty member is a US citizen, her photographs are governed
by US law, not the law of the country displayed in the photos.  Under
US law, if these are just her own travel photos (that is, not
something she was employed to take), then she is automatically the
copyright holder.  Copyright protection arises as soon as an original
work is fixed in a tangible medium of expression - no publication or
registration required.  She can put her own copyright notice on them,
if she so desires without obtaining the "permission" of any entity or
agency.

So you appear to be good to go.  It doesn't matter WHERE she took the
photos (unless she agreed to some terms and conditions that we don't
know about), only WHO took the photos and what was their status when
they took them (i.e., on vacation, employed by some entity,. etc.).

U.S. citizen, regular vacation photos, go ahead.

Best, Peggy

Peggy E. Hoon, J.D.
Special Assistant to the Provost for Copyright Administration
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7113
919.513.2045
919.513.4237 (fax)





>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 09:39:38 -0500
> To: <digital-copyright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> From: "Marsha Zavar" <mlzavar@xxxxxxx>
> Cc: "'Deanne Peterson'" <dmpeters@xxxxxxx>
> Subject: information regarding copyright of photographs in other
>   countries
> Message-ID: <1AEE469F26184CDA87829B8BBE04A9AB@xxxxxxx>
>
> I am posting this on behalf of a colleague:
>
>
>
> Hello everyone. At the present time I am working with a faculty  
> member who
> would like to put her travel photographs from China, Taiwan, and  
> Japan in
> our digital repository as part of her teaching collection. The  
> photographs
> range in subject from public parks, street scenes, festivals and  
> signs, to
> monuments and inside cultural and open air heritage sites. We are  
> reading up
> on copyright law for photography in the United States and see that  
> many laws
> differ among states. This led us to wonder about the copyright laws  
> of each
> country specifically relating to photography and the subject of those
> photographs.
>
> We are looking for suggestions for publications or web sites that  
> could
> provide guidance on international copyright laws, especially for the 3
> countries mentioned above. Thanks in advanced for any suggestions.
>
> Dee