1. When it’s created, it’s copyrighted. Use the copyright notice.
2. The photographer or his agent has the exclusive right to exploit the copyright in each image. That right is for the life of the photographer plus 70 years.
3. Permission to use a copyrighted photograph for any purpose whatsoever must be obtained in advance in writing to avoid possible violation of the federal law on copyright.
4. Any unauthorized use constitutes an infringement. An unauthorized use is an infringement absent a statutory exemption such as fair use or limited classroom use.
5. Penalties for infringement are monetary and can be severe.
6. Combining, altering or scanning photographs or any part thereof, including electronically, is an exclusive right held by the photographer and permission to combine or alter should be obtained in writing prior to any such changes or uses.
7. Exceeding the terms of a license has been held to be an infringement. A new license is required prior to additional use.
8. An artist’s rendering of a photograph in another medium is a derivative use of an image and does require the written permission of the copyright owner prior to use.
9. Re-creating a copyrighted photograph is a derivative use and therefore requires the permission of the copyright holder of the original image.
10. Reference use of a photograph or any part thereof requires the permission of the copyright holder.
    
    

Who Can Claim Copyright?

Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.

the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following and it is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the copyright law to the owner of copyright.:

• To reproduce their photos in copies;

• To prepare derivative images based upon the work;

• To distribute copies of the images to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;

• To display the images publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work
  
  

Notice of Copyright

The use of a copyright notice is no longer required under U.S. law, although it is often beneficial. An image does not have to have any form of copyright notice on the work, near the work or embedded in the work for it to be copyrighted. Images are automatically copyrighted upon creation by the author.