The BASICS OF COPYRIGHT - UNDERSTANDING WHY OWNING A PHOTOGRAPH IS DIFFERENT THAN OWNING THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCE IT
At the moment of creation, photographs are intellectual property and the ownership of the copyright for that photograph belongs with the photographer. Unlike real property (your home for instance) and personal property (the items in your home), you cannot touch intellectual property. Intellectual property is also different than real and personal property in that it can be reproduced easily (many copies can be made). A photographic print is a physical object and a type of personal property. However, owning a photographic print does not necessarily give the owner the right to reproduce the photograph. This right of reproduction remains with the copyright owner — a right than can be licensed many times. California photographer Syl Arena does not sell his photographs. Rather he licenses specific rights of reproduction to clients.
Copyright is a fundamental American right contained in the original version of our Consitution. Copyright predates other rights that were established by amendments to the Constitution — such as: separation of church and state, protection against unreasonable search and seizure and the right of women to vote. The original language in our Constitution that pertains to copyright is listed in Secion 8 and gives Congress the right “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries”
Useful sources of information on copyrights can be found on ASMP’s copyright tutorial and from the US Copyright Office.