Photograph Copyrights

So you have written an article and are ready to publish but you need to add a photograph or graphic to make the article more appealing. While it would be very easy to search the topic and select a photograph or graphic to add to your article, there is a risk of choosing a photograph or graphic that has a copyright and is prohibited from being copied or distributed without the creators consent and possibly a fee.

Using someone else’s creative work to improve the look of your own is not legal without permission and could damage your reputation and cost you more than a fee for publication. There is also the issue of whether your words interested the reader or someone else’s creative work.

There is a simple solution to the dilemma and one that will be much more rewarding when publishing your work. Take the photographs yourself is the easiest and best solution. To keep your hard work, completely original:

·         Keep a digital camera with you. Take pictures of anything that you might find interesting or useful later.  Even a street sign can be a useful addition to the right article

·         Take photos of everyday things that can be used to accent an article. Your bookshelf or  computer keyboard for example, would work for many types of articles

·         Catch seasonal events for later use. It would be hard to recreate a snowstorm in July so take pictures of holidays and weather changes as they happen.

·         Take pictures of things that can be used in more than one way. For example, a window can be a window to the soul, looking out to the world and cleaning advice for window panes or curtains.

Organizing your photographs in files, storing them on USB drives or creating an account on a site that allows for photo storage will make the photographs easily accessible and will make adding to your article easier.  This will make the article completely your own and take care of any concerns of photograph copyrights when publishing your original work.