Remember – Improve Photography is NOT your advocate. We only provide legal information and do NOT offer legal advice. If you have legal questions about your photography business, you should contact a licensed attorney in your area. And since we live in the United States, we are actually only talking about U.S. law, although we do address some issues that also affect our international readers/listeners. In California, sales tax must be paid on the total purchase price of your photo services if you include tangible goods (video discs, albums, prints, etc.). They cannot separate services from tangible goods in order to tax only the price of goods and not services. If you really only provide services and then deliver the images digitally, you won`t have to charge VAT under applicable tax laws, but if a customer wants to order an album or other tangible product six months later, you`ll have to charge them VAT on the full amount of your original photo services. as well as the cost of the album or any other product. Whether you`re a true beginner taking photos or following in the footsteps of professional shutters, legal problems are never more than one mistake away. It only takes one misstep or miscalculation for the burden of the law to suck in the pleasure of photography. Just because it`s legal doesn`t mean you always have to take the picture.
If someone really doesn`t want their picture taken, it would be decent to respect their wishes. Wait for them to succeed or skip it altogether. How dare anyone copy and paste your well-thought-out creative photography onto your website! * Shake your fist in the air! * It`s low and dirty and not fair. And you can do a few things to try to prevent that. [18:45] What should I do if I want to start a business unit for my photography? There`s an advantage to running your business as a real business rather than a sole proprietorship: if you`re sued as part of your photography business, your personal assets (such as your home) are protected from settlement. However, the downside is that there are many rules and regulations that you need to follow when starting a business unit. But some rules (even boring ones) are much better than losing your house to a photo accident. Do a lot of research before starting your business. Talk to a CPA who is familiar with the laws in your area.
Get advice from the CPA on how to run your business and manage your finances. If you are a member of a professional photography association, contact them for more information. Part of the reason you pay dues to these associations is that they provide that kind of information. Filing taxes as an LLC can get tricky, so don`t be afraid to hire a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to help you. After all, the purpose of an LLC is to minimize legal issues, which means you really don`t want to tick off the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)! It is illegal to take pictures of people if they have a reasonable expectation of privacy. For example, if they are safe from their four walls, if they are in a hospital room, or if they are sitting on a toilet – even if the toilet is public. But when they are in public, this reasonable expectation of privacy ends. To protect a watermark name on the photograph from use by someone else, does the name have to be a registered trademark or copyrighted? Be aware of these laws and copyright tips. You should be able to skate through your photographic efforts that are less marked than others! It`s always a good idea to have a lawyer who can help you if something goes wrong. Even though the Berne Convention applies in almost all countries, some countries, such as the United States, still accept copyright registration for content.
Your work is protected by copyright regardless of registration, but registering your work offers you additional protection. For example, a registered copyright owner may seek legal damages and attorneys` fees. An unregistered copyright holder can only receive actual damages and loss of profit. This point could have been at the top, but not everyone takes pictures to make money (but every photographer does something with their photos). If you make money with your photography, you need to start a photography business legally. If you don`t register as a business, everything you do may be at stake, including your assets.