Copyright FAQs

What is Copyright?

Copyright is the right of the creator of an original work. The word copyright (a right to copy) indicates what this right is all about. Copyright gives the creator of a work for a certain time period an exclusive right with some limitations to decide of the work. Others must respect this right. Copyright is granted to the creator automatically. When the time period expires the work is said to enter the public domain. It is available for anyone to use for any purpose.

A work needs to have some creative nature in order to have copyright protection. A creative work can be a written work or an artistic work. Copyright is given for example to a poem, an article, a book, a composition, a painting or a photograph.

The exclusive right of the creator means that the copyright holder has the right to decide of the work exclusively. He/she can decide for example of the publication, distribution and adaptation of the work. He/she can also have some moral rights for his/her work, e.g. the right to be granted for it. This exclusive right has some limitations (e.g. private use). The copyright holder has the right to sell or assign his/her right to someone else. This means that a copyright or aspects of it may be assigned or transferred from one party to another.

Who has the copyright of a photograph?

The copyright of a photograph belongs to the photographer. The time of expiring of the copyright can vary but in some cases the copyright expires only 70 years after the death of the photographer.

The photographer can sell his/her copyright or parts of it to someone else. In many cases the photographer only sells a photograph without selling the copyright. In these cases the photographer still has the copyright but he/she sells the photograph for private use or some other agreed use. The photographer can also grant a license to use the photograph. In some countries personality rights can restrict the use of photographs. This concerns e.g. photographs of individuals.

What if my photo has been used without permission?

If you find that your photo has been used without permission please contact us. If a picture provided here infringes on copyright, we will remove it from the web site immediately at the copyright owner's request.

Do I have the copyright of the information of my dog?

No. Copyright does not protect information itself. Information about dogs is not copyrighted, but is public information accessible via national dog registries, catalogues, databases, pedigrees or other paperwork. Therefore anyone can add a dog or edit the information about a dog including the name, titles, date of birth, breeder etc. This information is usually publicly available and it is not copyrighted nor is it private information. The owner or the breeder of a dog does not have the exclusive right to decide whether the information of his/her dog can be added to a database.
Modifications and additions of dog entries can be tracked through the change log.