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" that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

• Reproduce (including scanning into your computer for any reason or use)
• Change from original form
• Distribute Copies
• Display Publicly (including use on a web site)

Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. In the case of photography, that point is as soon as the cameras shutter is released and the image is transferred to the film plane. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work (i.e., the photographer). Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.

Ownership of a book, manuscript, painting, photograph or any other copy of photorecord does not give the possessor the copyright. The law provides that transfer of ownership of any material object that embodies a protected work does not of itself convey any rights in the copyright. In other words, if I give and/or allow your use of a picture, you do not own the copyright to that picture, the photographer does, and as such, you may not reproduce that picture in any way, shape, or form.

How is a Copyright Secured? The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure Copyright. Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is created when it is fixed in a copy of photorecord for the first time. "Copies" are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or when the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, film, videotape, or microfilm is used.

Because of today's technology, people take for granted a photographers rights regarding Copyright. As you can see, it is not legal to copy a professional photographers work in any manner. Most photographers will mark their pictures with symbol ©, their name and often the year. For example: GT©, Photography By Gar Travis© or www.garphoto.com© however, it's not required that a photographer mark his/her work for it to be "copyrighted". Because of the abuse against copyrighted material, the fine for copyright infringement increased from $30,000 to $250,000 as of January 1, 2000.

I hope this clears up any unanswered questions regarding what copyright means. If you still have questions, you can write the Library of Congress for a complete copy of the Copyright Law.

If you see a photograph of yourself on my site and you wish to use it on a blog or web site, please contact me for permission. Photographs otherwise on the site are not for sale to the general public or available to use on blogs or web sites unless prior arrangement has been made with the photographer.

Museums and non-profit organizations associated with events photographed: Air Shows, Faires or Reenactments may obtain digital images of their event free of charge upon request. Such requests must originate from marketing or public relations representatives of those events. Please provide: contact name, title, mailing address and telephone number as well as 501(c)(3) non-profit information. If the photographs are to be used on a web site or in print, credit as to source must be given in addition to a link to this web site.