Copyright and wedding photography

Hello! And welcome to the first in a series of blog posts where I’m going to be answering the questions I get asked the most by couples. 

First up is copyright. 

It’s a big topic and something that is quite often misunderstood. I’m obviously not going to be writing a huge essay about the ins and outs of copyright, quite frankly that’s probably not something you’d be remotely interested in reading! Instead I’m going to talk about what copyright, specifically copyright of your wedding photographs, means for you. 

How does copyright work when it comes to your wedding photographs?  

To keep it simple, think of an author of a book. That book is their work and the copyright of that work belongs to the author. 

I am the ‘author’ of my photographs. Whenever I take an image copyright automatically belongs to me. But what does that mean for you and your wedding photographs? 

Around 4-6 weeks after your wedding you’ll receive your password protected online gallery. This contains around 500 professionally edited images. I never like to give an exact number of photographs you’ll receive as it depends on so many factors but I promise that you will have an amazing selection of images to remember your day by. 

I’ll also post out a USB containing both high and low resolution copies of the images. You can print these images and / or share them online. All I ask is that if you do share them anywhere on social media please credit me using my social links (you can find all my links at the end of this blog). Please put the link in your post itself rather than just tagging. It’s best to use the low resolution copies of your photographs when you post them online or send them over email. 

When it comes to printing your images you have two options. You can either purchase prints through your online gallery. The print labs I use are all of an extremely high quality and I absolutely adore the prints they create. 

You can also use the high resolution images on USB to order prints yourself through whichever print laboratory you decide to use. I highly recommend using a professional lab to get the best results.

One of my favourite ways to look back at, and preserve, wedding photographs is in a wedding album. You can find more information about the weddings albums I supply here.

. You can of course design and print your own using the high resolution images on your gallery or USB. 

Wedding suppliers and your wedding photographs

Your wedding photographs are yours – for your own personal use – to do as you like with. Often wedding suppliers will get in touch with you and ask if they can use any of your wedding photographs for their own marketing. As long as you’re happy for them to do this then please ask them to get in touch with me directly. They can email me here. I can then supply them with images and send over my usage and copyright instructions. 

Social media links

You can use these links in your posts whenever you share an image online. Please remember to use my Instagram handle at the end of the post, don’t just tag the image! Apart from making it legal, it really helps other couples find me when you properly credit me on social media and I greatly appreciate it!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachel_movitz_photo/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachelMovitzPhotography/

My Website: https://www.rachelmovitzweddings.com/

Your wedding photographs and commercial use

If you would like to use your wedding photographs for anything other than personal use – for example if you have your own business and would like to to promote it using your wedding photographs – then please get in touch with me. There may be an additional fee for any commercial use.

I hope this blog post answers any questions you may have had about copyright and how it applies to your wedding photographs. If there is anything you’re unsure of or you have any further questions then please get in touch. 

Let me know if there are any other questions you’d like me to cover in this blog series!