Photographing origami

nmonckton · Post by **nmonckton** » December 8th, 2007, 7:26 pm

I'm looking for advice.

I do a little stock photography as a freelance , and I have several ideas for using origami figures in various settings.

However - I don't want to do this if I end up breaching someones copyright - as a photographer I understand how irritating this is.

I also understand that the diagram itself is copyright, and so is a model folded by someone else. So here's the question. If I fold a model myself using a diagram found on the net (or anywhere else for that matter) and then photograph it, either in isolation or as part of a still life set-up, am I infringing the originators copyright if I sell the photo.

Nigel

JeossMayhem · Post by **JeossMayhem** » December 9th, 2007, 12:40 am

Hmm, I'm not sure of the technicalities but the designer has to be credited for sure... I'm sure someone else has better input than that though.

Foxglove · Post by **Foxglove** » December 9th, 2007, 3:01 am

You could probably contact the folder to see if it would be alright to use his work. It'll probably be fine as long as you mention who designed the featured model.

Jonnycakes · Post by **Jonnycakes** » December 9th, 2007, 3:47 am

Look for a copyright on the diagrams/model. I just found out on Flickr that there are options for putting copyrights on your pics-the default is all rights reserved, but there are Creative Commons Licenses (I think that's what they're called) that you can choose instead. I went to the site explaining them, and some allow reproduction under various terms. Something to look in to.

malachi · Post by **malachi** » December 9th, 2007, 4:44 am

If you're doing this for serious money, consider consulting a lawyer. If it's for small amounts of money, I wouldn't worry about it too much, generally.

I'm not sure I agree with the idea that you have to credit the designer if you folded it yourself, it's probably polite, but anything anyone tells you here will just be speculation of laymen.

nmonckton · Post by **nmonckton** » December 9th, 2007, 9:58 am

Thanks for the input so far. It strikes me, after quite a bit of surfing around, that I'm probably safest using only those designs described as traditional, i.e. already in the public domain.

Jonnycakes · Post by **Jonnycakes** » December 9th, 2007, 8:16 pm

The surefire way to do it would be to contact the designers themselves. It should not be too much trouble to get ahold of them (Robert Lang, for example, has a page on his website for just this purpose). Whatever you decide on, good luck with your photography.

HankSimon · Post by **HankSimon** » December 9th, 2007, 9:06 pm

Yes, I am a layman, too. But we've had these discussions many times over the years. So, I believe that you are allowed to photograph and sell the photos of any model that you personally fold. The diagrams are legally copyrighted, as well as photos of models that you did Not fold, - So you may not make copies of these- unless some may have be specifically passed into public domain for personal or other specified use.

But, to maintain goodwill of the Origami community, I strongly recommend that you contact the designer for permission, if possible. I'd further suggest a small token of appreciation for the artist, in the form of your composition (JPG) that includes his model, for his personal, non-commercial use...

My two cents.

- Hank Simon

islandmassive · Post by **islandmassive** » December 10th, 2007, 5:20 pm

or you could take ebays stance which is "bugger them all" as i like to put it in which everything on the net is in the public domain and so can be sold

nmonckton · Post by **nmonckton** » December 12th, 2007, 9:15 pm

"bugger them all"

As I said in the OP I appreciate your frustration on this one.It's quite a big issue in stock photography that people download photos/vectors and then give them away for free on Flickr and the like.

Hank - your two cents makes sense to me. Once again - thanks for the input everyone.