IPOS Links on Copyright - Essential for Photographers to understand their rights

Darren · 29th March 2005

For those who are still unsure about copyright laws in Singapore, IPOS (Intellectual Property Office of Singapore) has in-depth information about copyrights.

IPOS pages on Copyright

Click on the dropdown (marked About IP) and select the relevant Copyright pages (links reproduced here for ease of reference)

1. About Copyright
2. Ownership and Rights
3. Infringement and Enforcement
4. Specific Copyright Issues
(Covering "Copyright and the Internet", "Exceptions", "Copyright and the Internet" etc.)

There are a couple other links which may be relevant to others.

photopurist · 9th April 2005

Copyright laws are just scams to make money and to create more unnecessary lawsuits. In the end, lawyers and courts are the one who benefits the most from such laws.

You can use my photographs anytime. I will be honored if you did. Do you know you can print one of Ansel Adam's negatives archive at the University of New Mexico for free? You can even sell it. That is the spirit!

LazerLordz · 17th May 2005

Originally Posted by photopurist

Copyright laws are just scams to make money and to create more unnecessary lawsuits. In the end, lawyers and courts are the one who benefits the most from such laws.

You can use my photographs anytime. I will be honored if you did. Do you know you can print one of Ansel Adam's negatives archive at the University of New Mexico for free? You can even sell it. That is the spirit!

I suppose you will support the Open Source Foundation?

derricktsc · 24th May 2005

Originally Posted by photopurist

Copyright laws are just scams to make money and to create more unnecessary lawsuits. In the end, lawyers and courts are the one who benefits the most from such laws.

You can use my photographs anytime. I will be honored if you did. Do you know you can print one of Ansel Adam's negatives archive at the University of New Mexico for free? You can even sell it. That is the spirit!

PhotoPurist shld be stoned...hanged or even...

Coz someone who dont even respect their own creativity does not deserve to be respected.

U must be the pple who support pirated CDs.

Dont call urself a PHOTOGRAPHER, it is a disgrace!

mervlam · 25th May 2005

Originally Posted by photopurist

Copyright laws are just scams to make money and to create more unnecessary lawsuits. In the end, lawyers and courts are the one who benefits the most from such laws.

You can use my photographs anytime. I will be honored if you did. Do you know you can print one of Ansel Adam's negatives archive at the University of New Mexico for free? You can even sell it. That is the spirit!

do me a favour. send me a couple of your best photos and i'll see if i can sell them for money. i'll keep the money for my own use. and oh, by the way, can we sign an agreement to waive all your rights to the photos i'm going to sell?

idor · 25th May 2005

Hmmmm... Beware of the Dark Side... I sense a war is on its way....

LazerLordz · 25th May 2005

The intrinsic value of a photo is highly subjective.Commercial photographers might take offence at someone who lets them our for free..while art-oriented photographers whose aim is to share and be open with their shots see it differently.

It's a contest of ideas here.

vince123123 · 25th May 2005

Well in that case those laws will not be relevant to you correct? Its to avail those who wish to protect their works of legal recourse in event of infringing use.

If you're wellsprited enough to share your photographs for free, why should you scorn the legal system who protects those who wish to avail themselves of protection?

I venture to suggest that a possible reason why such a statement is made is because one intends to use other pple's photographs (ie those who are glad for the existence of such laws) without having to pay them for it.

Originally Posted by photopurist

Copyright laws are just scams to make money and to create more unnecessary lawsuits. In the end, lawyers and courts are the one who benefits the most from such laws.

You can use my photographs anytime. I will be honored if you did. Do you know you can print one of Ansel Adam's negatives archive at the University of New Mexico for free? You can even sell it. That is the spirit!

blurblock · 25th May 2005

Originally Posted by photopurist

Copyright laws are just scams to make money and to create more unnecessary lawsuits. In the end, lawyers and courts are the one who benefits the most from such laws.

You can use my photographs anytime. I will be honored if you did. Do you know you can print one of Ansel Adam's negatives archive at the University of New Mexico for free? You can even sell it. That is the spirit!

I think if you are a professional photographer make money using your photographs, you will not think so.

I noticed you are an editor and a graphical artist, what say you if things you wrote and designed are been leeched and used without protection from the law? For one thing, you will be out of job. For second, you will be out of food. Would you still feel honoured? If you do, please start to write and draw as much as possible and giving it out free ..... the magazine / newspaper you are working for should be free too, since there should not be any copyright issue as you had mentioned.

Do you think I can reprint one of your works and use it for my own use for free? or sell it for my profit for that matter?

ParkertR · 5th June 2005

lalala he hasnt replied

xray · 20th June 2005

I think copyright is a selfish way of doing things. But it's essential for making money.

In my opinion, I'll allow people to use my some of my photographs and even sell them, but give me credit for the photo. If they place it on their website, then they have to allow others to copy my photo like what they had done.

On contrary, if I took some photos for business use, I would not even think of making it free. Think in the shoes of those who have to live on their photo earnings. If you did not protect your photos, they would be freely avaliable and worth nothing.

That's why I like the Open-initiative - allows people to share stuff fairly, but I don't apply it to all my works.

doug3fflux · 28th June 2005

Originally Posted by ParkertR

lalala he hasnt replied

he doesnt need to. like all of us, he has made his point, or at least tried to.

polars · 15th July 2005

Some time ago, I went down to a neighbourhood police center to enquire about copyright, other individual rights and some other matters. The police officer told me they are only trained in general law and for queries of my type, the police do not intervene. The police officer told me that for matters of this type, you need to engage a lawyer and it is a civil matter, not a police matter.

Then later on I went down to the Supreme Court to make further enquiries, wanting to clear up some doubts regarding copyright and other rights.

The final conclusion is that for all of these copyrights and individual rights enquiries, you have to engage a lawyer trained in these areas. Or contact IPOS to consult them.

vince123123 · 15th July 2005

IPOS will not advise on civil claims.

Originally Posted by polars

Some time ago, I went down to a neighbourhood police center to enquire about copyright, other individual rights and some other matters. The police officer told me they are only trained in general law and for queries of my type, the police do not intervene. The police officer told me that for matters of this type, you need to engage a lawyer and it is a civil matter, not a police matter.

Then later on I went down to the Supreme Court to make further enquiries, wanting to clear up some doubts regarding copyright and other rights.

The final conclusion is that for all of these copyrights and individual rights enquiries, you have to engage a lawyer trained in these areas. Or contact IPOS to consult them.

polars · 15th July 2005

Originally Posted by vince123123

IPOS will not advise on civil claims.

IPOS doesn't advise on civil claims, it's the job of the lawyer. IPOS advises on copyright.

vince123123 · 15th July 2005

Have you tried calling them before? From my previous experiences, they don't even advise on copyright laws save maybe those really basic ones which are on their website anyway.

Originally Posted by polars

IPOS doesn't advise on civil claims, it's the job of the lawyer. IPOS advises on copyright.

polars · 15th July 2005

Two-three years ago someone took photos of me without my express permission. I looked very ugly and don't wish to have my photos taken. Angry, I went down to the neighbourhood police post. The police cannot help me because my photos are taken in a public place. I learned that I do not have the right to demand that the photographer delete my photos. I requested the police officer to contact the photographer. He said he can't because it's against the regulations. The police cannot help me in this matter and said that if i want, i can engage a lawyer and start a civil suit.

polars · 15th July 2005

Originally Posted by vince123123

Have you tried calling them before? From my previous experiences, they don't even advise on copyright laws save maybe those really basic ones which are on their website anyway.

Anything more complex you would have to engage a lawyer.

vince123123 · 15th July 2005

Originally Posted by polars

Anything more complex you would have to engage a lawyer.

Yes agreed, thats why I was making my initial comment to your post:

"The final conclusion is that for all of these copyrights and individual rights enquiries, you have to engage a lawyer trained in these areas. Or contact IPOS to consult them."

I don't really think there is an "or" here.

dawgbyte77 · 15th July 2005

Originally Posted by polars

Two-three years ago someone took photos of me without my express permission. I looked very ugly and don't wish to have my photos taken. Angry, I went down to the neighbourhood police post. The police cannot help me because my photos are taken in a public place. I learned that I do not have the right to demand that the photographer delete my photos. I requested the police officer to contact the photographer. He said he can't because it's against the regulations. The police cannot help me in this matter and said that if i want, i can engage a lawyer and start a civil suit.

If the photo was taken in public without breaking any law (i.e. obscene), you do not have a claim for it anymore. Engaging a lawyer will not help, either the lawyer will turn you down or will just take your money. Have you spoken to the photographer instead? Just to clear some issue, I am not siding with the photographer and strongly do not agree with his ethics.

29th March 2005	#1
Darren ClubSNAP Admin Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: ClubSNAP HQ Posts: 7,483	IPOS Links on Copyright - Essential for Photographers to understand their rights For those who are still unsure about copyright laws in Singapore, IPOS (Intellectual Property Office of Singapore) has in-depth information about copyrights. IPOS pages on Copyright Click on the dropdown (marked About IP) and select the relevant Copyright pages (links reproduced here for ease of reference) 1. About Copyright 2. Ownership and Rights 3. Infringement and Enforcement 4. Specific Copyright Issues (Covering "Copyright and the Internet", "Exceptions", "Copyright and the Internet" etc.) There are a couple other links which may be relevant to others. Last edited by roygoh; 19th August 2008 at 05:23 PM.

9th April 2005	#2
photopurist Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Singapore, Earth Posts: 80	What the fuss is all about? Copyright laws are just scams to make money and to create more unnecessary lawsuits. In the end, lawyers and courts are the one who benefits the most from such laws. You can use my photographs anytime. I will be honored if you did. Do you know you can print one of Ansel Adam's negatives archive at the University of New Mexico for free? You can even sell it. That is the spirit!

25th May 2005	#7
LazerLordz Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: near the Equator Posts: 1,258	The intrinsic value of a photo is highly subjective.Commercial photographers might take offence at someone who lets them our for free..while art-oriented photographers whose aim is to share and be open with their shots see it differently. It's a contest of ideas here. __________________ We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities. - Oscar Wilde

5th June 2005	#10
ParkertR Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Singapore/Thailand Posts: 5,804	lalala he hasnt replied __________________ Budget wedding photographer :)

25th May 2005	#6
idor Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Northern California Posts: 669	Hmmmm... Beware of the Dark Side... I sense a war is on its way....

20th June 2005	#11
xray Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 600	I think copyright is a selfish way of doing things. But it's essential for making money. In my opinion, I'll allow people to use my some of my photographs and even sell them, but give me credit for the photo. If they place it on their website, then they have to allow others to copy my photo like what they had done. On contrary, if I took some photos for business use, I would not even think of making it free. Think in the shoes of those who have to live on their photo earnings. If you did not protect your photos, they would be freely avaliable and worth nothing. That's why I like the Open-initiative - allows people to share stuff fairly, but I don't apply it to all my works.

15th July 2005	#13
polars Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 58	Some time ago, I went down to a neighbourhood police center to enquire about copyright, other individual rights and some other matters. The police officer told me they are only trained in general law and for queries of my type, the police do not intervene. The police officer told me that for matters of this type, you need to engage a lawyer and it is a civil matter, not a police matter. Then later on I went down to the Supreme Court to make further enquiries, wanting to clear up some doubts regarding copyright and other rights. The final conclusion is that for all of these copyrights and individual rights enquiries, you have to engage a lawyer trained in these areas. Or contact IPOS to consult them.