FAQ Entry #514

This is a respond to a previously asked question about the A' Design Award and Competition. The full list of frequently asked questions can be accessed here.

#514: How do I prove that I am the original photographer of the photo? How do I prove that a photograph was taken by me?

In order to prove that you are the original photographer of the work , first, and foremost, you need to establish that you are truly the copyright holder from a legal standpoint; in almost all cases with a few exceptions, copyrights of photographs belong to photographer who took the photos and not the subject of the photographs nor the creator of the works or designs that are being photographed, that being said, in most cases, if you took the photo yourself, you are the photographer, thus the copyright holder from a legal standpoint, the exception to this rule is as follows; in some countries, when taking the photograph, if you were working for a company and if the photograph was taken during company time for a corporate project, then the copyright of the photograph belongs to the company or the institution that you were working for as a hire, and likewise if you had transferred or sold your rights to a third party or had an agreement to do so, depending on your country of residence, you may no longer be the copyright holder. Check your local laws or consult an intellectual property lawyer if you are not very sure. Once you are sure that you are the copyright holder of an image by means of being the photographer, then you may need some evidence to support your claims of being the original photographer of a copyright disputed image: (a) If you have the original photograph, especially in RAW file format, this could help prove that you are the original photographer, since only the original photographer would be expected to have the original image files. - Good to know: never send your RAW photos to a disputing party; the idea is that you have the RAW file and they do not have it and that is how you prove you are the photographer but if you send your RAW photo to disputing party, you loose a trump card. (b) If you have the original photograph, EXIF metadata may be used to prove that you are the original photographer, since the EXIF metadata contains many information such as camera model, camera settings, image metrics, date and time information, location information, and similar, and all these metadata may be taken as part of evidence when combined with other evidence; you may for example show that you had the camera that took the image, or you may show that you were at the location at the date the image was taken etc. (c) If you have additional associated photographs that were taken during the same shooting session but not yet published, these additional associated photographs from the same shooting session or series may help prove that you were the original photographer, since only the original photographer would be expected to have these unpublished associated image files or photographs. (d) If you have an image file that has more data than the publicly available image, such as an uncropped version of the image, such an image containing more data than the publicly available images may be useful evidence that you are the original photographer, since only the original photographer would be expected to have these unpublished image files or photographs that contain more data. Indeed, many photographers upload very slightly trimmed or cropped versions of their images for this particular reason. (e) In addition, eye-witness affidavits could help. Eye-witness affidavits are simple statements signed by third parties who have witnessed you taking the photo; imagine a piece of paper, where a witness states that you were the photographer, there is a signature and identification details of the person who is acting as the witness. (f) If there were models in your photograph, your model release forms may note you as the photographer and this may help prove that you are the original photographer.

Keywords: original photo, intellectual property, license, declaration, image license, photography license, photo license, rights, intellectual property rights, photograph, photography

The following questions could be related:

• #134: I am interested in joining the Design competition, but I do not have the copyrights or patents regarding my idea/design. I would like to know if I am eligible without them. If I apply without a patent, what could ensure that my idea/design is secure, how can I protect my design/idea.
• #157: I have my brand or logo patented in my country only. If I were to show this logo in publications, would this be detrimental to the continued existence of my brand, since it will be exposed at an international level where I have no protection. Would an additional copyright covering 164 countries help ?
• #172: I would like to know if there will be official photographs taken of the award ceremony and whether those photographs will be posted online?
• #188: Is it safe for me to submit designs that I do not yet have patents on?
• #221: I want to submit a project, but I do not have renders can I still join?
• #272: Our company usually uses a picture, which isn't created by us, but we have got rights to use it as we bought the image. Can we upload this image to as a part of our project presentation to A' Design Award?
• #286: I would like to know who will have the patent of designed product. will it belong to winner or your committee?
• #309: Will the intellectual property rights of the designer be protected as a result of the submission of the design?
• #311: Are we obliged to credit the photogaphers by providing the names for the image credits section?
• #340: I have submitted my design. But I haven't got a patent yet. Is it safe (my design will not be stolen) if I submit my design? If there is a risk for me losing the patent of my design, I might think again before joining the competition?
• #341: Can I join the design award competition without a patent?
• #344: I want to use the design mediation services to sell my design and I already made international patent filing for it for that purpose but I do not know how to set the price for my design?
• #362: I designed the product for a company and the first question is about the use of its logo. Do you need any special document from the company to upload the logo in the entry form? Or could be a document for my use of it?
• #388: Is it possible to insert photo? (Can I upload a photograph to support my entry)
• #399: I have renders, sketches and photos of my design as well as the design itself, which should I send to you?
• #413: Do I still remain the sole owner of the copyright to my works, if I nominate my work to the competition?
• #433: I do not see my picture or photograph at the Photo Gallery - Winners' Photos and Images Section, will my photo be added there?
• #444: For Architectural submissions, I understand right, the designs can be in manual sketches, renderings, blue-prints, in this case do they have to have planning approvals received?
• #456: I have an award winning work, will the design award cover the cost of my international patent application?
• #457: My profile image is not displayed with the rest of the award winning designers, why is that?
• #494: For the Photography Awards; I have just a single good photo, but you need us to provide multiple images, what do I do?
• #508: I cannot find my gala-night images, where are my gala images? Could it be possible my gala-night photos are deleted? Can you find my image?
• #509: What are the difference between patents and copyright for the costs and duration?
• #510: Can I take someone else photo or design and use in my design or work?
• #511: Is my design protected by copyrights?
• #524: How long will the results of the A' Design Award be kept confidential?

If you did not find your answer, please feel free to check the faq pages for more questions and answers. You will also want to check our webpage for details; thanks to our transparency policy, we document and publish everything.