legal

Professional Photographers of America, the world's largest pro photography non-profit trade group, is launching a big lobbying campaign in order to see the creation of a copyright small claims system in the United States, something that's "vital to your photography business," PPA says.

The messy legal battle surrounding the life's work of nanny and amateur street photographer Vivian Maier may finally be coming to a close in less than a week.

Could your smartphone camera one day be turned on and used by the government for surveillance? That's what Apple is warning the public about as it continues to battle the FBI in court.

A Muslim woman has filed a lawsuit against the Associated Press and AP photographer Mark Lennihan over a photo of her wearing a headscarf while sitting in a Starbucks. The image was sold as a stock photo and used in an opinion column that asked Muslim women not to wear the hijab.

Artist Richard Prince sparked huge controversy last year by taking Instagram photos without permission, making extremely small edits to them, and then selling them as fine art for up to $100,000 each.

Now, one of the outraged photographers who had his photo used by Prince is suing the artist for copyright infringement.

Since May of 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been beta testing a new smartphone app called B4UFLY (pronounced "before you fly"). It's a portable resource that helps aerial photographers and other drone pilots stay up to date on where it's safe and legal to fly.

Canon USA has filed lawsuits against a number of camera gear retailers in an attempt to stop the sale of gray market camera gear. The gray market is when a dealer imports and sells unauthorized gear that was intended for another country's camera market. The cheaper gear is legitimate, not counterfeit, but it's unauthorized and usually isn't covered by Canon's warranty.

Back in July, we reported that 47-year-old William H. Merideth of Hillview, Kentucky, had gotten arrested for using a shotgun to shoot down a neighbor's drone that was flying over his property.

Merideth was just cleared of all charges after a judge ruled that the camera drone's flight was indeed an invasion of privacy.

Sex offenders have the 1st Amendment right to photograph children in public. That's what a state Court of Appeals in Wisconsin ruled on Tuesday, striking down a law that make it illegal for registered sex offenders to take ordinary pictures of kids in public without getting permission from the parents.

When your finger presses down on a camera's shutter button and captures a photograph, that photo is instantly copyrighted with you as the rightful owner. However, there are benefits to formally registering your work with the United States Copyright Office. Today, we are going to take a look at the process involved in registering your visual artwork, along with the benefits of doing so and why you may want to consider it for photos you value.

California-based photographer Jeff Werner has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the popular website ViralNova for publishing (and profiting from) his photos without his permission.

There are a number of easy-to-use model release form apps out there already, but Snapwire wants to do better. The photo marketplace has launched its own free app called Releases. Designed for professional photographers, the app lets you easily create, sign, and send model and properly releases using your iPhone.

Finding the perfect photograph to use can be a challenge. Most photographers seek to copyright their work giving them the exclusive rights to its use and distribution. When you simply want to use a photo for a school presentation or your personal blog, navigating the legal landscape can be a nightmare. Luckily, the folks over at Creative Commons have created an Android app to allow you to find quickly and request images that you can legally use.

When signing up for virtually every photo sharing service, you'll be asked to agree to a lengthy terms of service document that's filled with legalese. If you're confused by the text and want that agreement spelled out for you in simpler terms, check out Terms of Service; Didn't Read (TOSDR), a new site that's dedicated to explaining terms and giving out report cards based on the conditions.

If you're wondering why copyright infringement is so widespread on the Web and why wealthy artists like Richard Prince can test the boundaries of copyright law without much worry, consider this: by the time photographer Daniel Morel won $1.2 million in 2013 after a 5-year copyright battle, his law firm had racked up a staggering $2.5 million in legal fees and costs -- most of which won't be paid.

Yesterday we shared how one photographer was surprised when a casual request to "share" her Facebook photo turned out to be a request to use it in a national TV ad. Unfortunately for photographers, it seems more and more companies are requesting photos in similarly subtle ways.

Last week, an Australian mother took to the Internet to publicly shame a 'creep' she caught taking pictures of her children at a shopping center. After the story blew up and sparked all kinds of outrage, it turns out the man was simply taking a selfie with a Darth Vader cutout to send to his kids.

If you're ever asked by an airline to stop taking pictures on their private property -- on their plane, for example -- you might want to obey their instructions and put your camera away. They're legally allowed to ban photography.

If you're getting into drone photography, it's important to know where you can and can't fly -- otherwise you could find your activities in the news for all the wrong reasons. AirMap is a new free, comprehensive, and interactive digital map that's designed specifically to help drone users find safe and legal airspace around them.

Remember the story of Andrea Polito, the photographer who was publicly accused by a couple of holding their wedding photos hostage until they paid an extra $150 fee for a cover for their album?

It came to light afterward that the couple may have intentionally gone to the media with their story in order to destroy Polito and her business, and the photographer is now suing the couple for defamation, seeking up to $1 million in damages for the damage they did.

NYC-based photographer Arne Svenson, whom we interviewed last month, has won a lengthy legal battle against people who claimed that he had invaded their privacy by taking pictures of them in their homes through open windows.

Is this a case of sensible anti-terrorism measures or racial profiling and an inappropriate suspicion of photography? Police in New York are currently looking for two men of Middle Eastern descent who were spotted taking pictures in front of multiple Jewish synagogues in Brooklyn.

The woman who was captured in a viral video last year attacking a drone photographer and calling him a "pervert" may have her charges dropped and record cleared.

A US court has ruled in favor of Bob Marley's family in a lawsuit they filed to get photos of the late reggae musician off unauthorized merchandise. The ruling will impact how iconic portraits of Marley are used for commercial purposes by third parties.

If you'd like a long and fruitful career as a street photographer, Saudi Arabia might not be the most welcoming place for you to pursue it. Shooting public photos and sharing them online is becoming more and more popular in the Middle Eastern kingdom, but many practitioners are unaware that the country's strict cybercrime law could bring down huge fines and even jail time for their snapshots.

Here's a strange legal rumble that just hit the courts: software giant Adobe is suing clothing giant Forever 21 for pirating copies of Photoshop.

Renowned Belgian artist Luc Tuymans has been found guilty in a plagiarism case after basing one of his paintings on a photo by photojournalist Katrijn Van Giel. Tuymans has been ordered to cease exhibiting and reproducing his painting, and will be fined €500,000 (~$580,000) if he does not comply.

Update: There have been new developments. Please see below.

There's a new bill passing through the Arkansas State Legislature that may be concerning to photographers who operate camera drones. The bill is titled, "Concerning The Use Of An Unmanned Vehicle Or Aircraft That Captures Images; To Create The Criminal Offenses; To Provide For Civil Liability," and it criminalizes certain camera drone usage and the possession of photos captured during that usage.

Hello fellow photographers. My name is Joshua Resnick. I am a stock photographer, but what I am going to tell you potentially affects all photographers. I wanted to bring to your attention a lawsuit I am involved in that I think could put the whole industry at risk if things don’t go well.

I am being sued in federal court for hundreds of thousands of dollars by a model I worked with in January 2013. This is a model that I paid, and who signed a release allowing me to sell her images through stock photo agencies. Why I am I being sued? It revolves around images that got misused or were just outright stolen and the model is blaming me for it.