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"Intellectual property" refers to original creations in the fields of literature and the arts. Most countries in the world provide automatic copyright protection to any item of intellectual property at the instant the item is created. At the moment a photo is taken, it automatically becomes the "intellectual property" of the photographer who took it. It makes no difference what the subject is or why the photograph was taken.
The key word here is "property". The form that property takes is "intellectual", meaning that while a bicycle is created by your hands, a piece of "intellectual property" is created with your mind. But it is as real and as protected as any other kind of "property".
If I created it, I own it, and you can't steal it or even use it without my permission, any more so than you could do with my bicycle.
When I create a piece of intellectual property, it is mine to do with what I will, or NOT do with as I will. I am said to have the "copyright" on it, and nobody else can use it without my permission.
I do, however, have the obligation to take steps to let people know that it is "copyrighted". That's why you see the little © symbol all the time. It is there to say, "Hey, don't screw around: this is intellectual property and somebody owns it."
Again, we emphasize the word "property". It's my bicycle and you can't run off with it or even ride it around without my permission.
Many people erroneously believe that the only way you can secure a copyright on a piece of intellectual property is by filing it with the government "Registrar of Copyrights". With the revision of the Copyright Act in 1976, this requirement was lifted: The instant you create it, you own the copyright on it, whether you "register" it with the government or not.
Nonetheless, most photo agencies DO register their images with the Registrar. Why? Because, if someone infringes the copyright, images that are registered can command greater penalties than would be the case if they are not registered.
We'll put that another way: Photo agencies register their images so that if they catch you using one without permission they can absolutely hammer you, which is exactly what they're going to do.
It's not shoplifting; it's not stealing a bicycle, and it's not punching someone in the nose. It's using a piece of intellectual property without permission and, arguably, the penalties for doing so are a lot more severe than for the other things we just mentioned.
And here's where it gets even dicier:
If someone accuses you of stealing their bicycle, they have to prove you did it. With intellectual property, if you are using, say, a photo, and someone can demonstrate they have the copyright on that photo, they do not have to prove that you don't have permission -- you have to prove that YOU do. This is an important concept, and we'll talk about it in greater detail later on in this document. But for now, just bear this in mind: If you steal an image, you have just infringed someone's lawful copyright and there are about 200 years' worth of laws in place to provide the copyright holder with remedies that you are definitely not going to like.
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