Whose work is it when it's someone else's idea?

markbarendt · Mar 19, 2014

Bill Burk said:
That was too easy.

Truzi · Mar 19, 2014

Gene Simmons would probably say it was all his work AND his idea.

Rick A · Mar 19, 2014

Bill, while it may have been someone elses idea, it is definitly your interpertation of the idea, thus it is yours. Unless you looked at the originators photo, then duplicated it, it would still be yours because you made it.BTW, the photo in question is awsome, the execution is wonderful.

DREW WILEY · Mar 19, 2014

If the idea turns out to be worth millions of dollars, then it's the Intellectual Property lawyers who decide. That makes it simple, cause then
someone will actually be legally awarded with credit for the idea, and the lawyers walk away with a big chunk of your millions. Otherwise....

RalphLambrecht · Mar 19, 2014

art is a process f creation not invention.it doesn't matter who thought of it;it matters who created the final productIf you made the print,it's your work.you may however give credit,and share profit,withn the one who inspired you.

jcc · Mar 19, 2014

Then why is Gregory Crewdson labeled as a renowned photographer, when admittedly doesn't operate the camera?

removed account4 · Mar 19, 2014

jcc said:
Then why is Gregory Crewdson labeled as a renowned photographer, when admittedly doesn't operate the camera?

not sure but along the same lines ...

i have a friend who worked for someone who is a world renowned photographer
as her assistant. from what i remember, the photographer never took any of the photographs
but was more of a director ..

nothing wrong with that ...

omaha · Mar 19, 2014

The AMPAS has separate categories for "Directing", "Cinematography" and "Film Editing", but not "Camera Operator".

FWIW.

BrianShaw · Mar 19, 2014

A friend of mine is a camera operator for motion pictures. He is just a tool, like the camera. He likes it that way... implementing someone else's vision and helping make someone else masterpiece (or disaster). My buddy makes good money and doesn't like responsibility or stress so it seems like a fair trade.

benjiboy · Mar 21, 2014

Plagiarism is as old as art itself not just in the visual arts, but all the arts. very little is truly original.

omaha · Mar 21, 2014

"What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun."

- Ecclesiastes 1:9

omaha · Mar 21, 2014

Or, if you prefer:

"If there be nothing new, but that which is
Hath been before, how are our brains beguil'd,
Which, labouring for invention, bear amiss
The second burden of a former child.
O, that record could with a backward look,
Even of five hundred courses of the sun,
Show me your image in some antique book,
Since mind at first in character was done!
That I might see what the old world could say
To this composed wonder of your frame;
Whether we are mended, or whe'er better they,
Or whether revolution be the same.
O! sure I am, the wits of former days
To subjects worse have given admiring praise. "

- Shakespeare, Sonnet 59

greenbank · Apr 26, 2014

Read Harold Bloom's The Anxiety Of influence (1973). This is not a new issue in literary criticism, though it may be new in photography. If you think a particular photographer's aesthetic approach is admirable, why not adopt that approach yourself? Indeed, why not try to take the same pictures -if you can! The pictures you take are yours, not your master's.

ROL · Apr 26, 2014

LJH said:
If I take a shot of Yosemite, does Ansel own it?

No, Cliven Bundy does. His "rights" extend to all federally owned land.

hoffy · Apr 26, 2014

I often wonder how the 'Land Down Under' copywrite ruling would effect all art. I think if you started to make millions where it is clear you were using a previous idea, I wouldn't put it past some organizations to try and seek 'compensation'.

Jim Jones · Apr 26, 2014

Probably thousands of photographers were simultaneously shooting the recent eclipse of the Moon. How could anyone claim copyright infringement by any other photographer?

Jaf-Photo · Apr 27, 2014

Copyright laws vary in different states, but they tend to be roughly similar, as they are based on international treaties.

The good news for the photographer, is that you are presumed to be the author of your photo.

If you photograph someone goofing around, the copyright is yours.

If someone else takes a greater share in the creative process, such as arranging an inveted scene for you to photograph, then it becomes more complicated. Copyright could belong to both of you or one of you, butit would depend on the circumstances.

For those types of work, it would be best to make an ageement on copyright, to be on the safe side.

Whose work is it when it's someone else's idea?

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