Photography and Intellectual Property: Are Creators Protected By Law?

This paper addresses the issue of copyright infringement and protection in the market of digital photography, given the fact that people often misapply the concept of fair use. Nowadays, when the average internet user is also a creator, we need to find a way to protect our content and respect the rights of the rightful creator. In our theoretical framework, we noticed the fact that laws are not enough to protect the work of said creators. To check if this is the case, we interviewed Octav Ganea, the managing partner of Inquam Photo Agency, and analyzed four watermarked photographs of the agency by using the reverse searching engine in order to investigate whether publications are using the images correctly or not. As Octav Ganea stated in the interview we conducted, a clearer regulation could help diminish intellectual theft and unfair use but much more is required, as for example, notifying the redactions for their wrongdoings. It turns out that laws are not enough and the efforts should go into educating people and change their behavior while working around with pictures.