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How to Tell Who Owns a Photo

Determining the ownership of a photo can be an important step if you are thinking of either buying the photo or republishing it in a school project, essay or presentation. The Internet is full of pictures; some of them are available as free downloads while others are copyrighted and must be purchased either outright or on a license basis if you want to use them. In doing this you will need to contact the photographer or the photographer's representative to obtain permission or arrange for the purchase.

Instructions

- 1
  Inspect the website where you found the picture. Art galleries, photo galleries and individual photographers' pages are just some of the many websites that carry photos. These websites will often contain pictures in galleries under the photographer's name or by genre of photo. Click "Contact" and email the website administrator and ask who owns the photo you are interested in.
- 2
  Right-click the photograph you are viewing and select "Properties." Digital photographs allow photographers to embed certain information in the file information. The name of the photographer and, in some cases, contact information may be found in the picture's properties.
- 3
  Look for a watermark on the picture. Watermarks are partially transparent wording or symbols that appear on the picture. The word may simply be "copyright" or it may include the name or agency that owns the photo. If the name is in the watermark, then you can search for the company or photographer and contact them directly.

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