Use of photographs

Photographs are protected either as works under Article 1 of the Copyright Act or according to related rights/neighbouring rights provisions under Article 49 a, so called ordinary photographs. Copyright to photographs under Article 1 holds until 70 years have past from the year the author died. Right to ordinary photographs holds until 50 years have past from the end of the year the photograph was made.

In principal all the same provisions and exceptions that are applied to other kinds of copyright protected materials are applied to photographs. You should take the following special characteristics into account, though:

According to Article 25 one is allowed to take photographs from published work of arts to be used in critical or scientific representation as far as the photograph relates to the text. You should take into account, though, that allthoug university teaching is in general reagared as scientific, it is not certain if it in all situations can be considered as scientific.

You can show photographs within teaching in accordance with Article 21 of the Copyright Act. See further Lecture teaching. This provision is not, however, applied to ordinary photographs under Article 49 a.
 
In accordance with Article 20 of the Copyright Act you can use copies of photographs to show the copies in public if such copies, with the author’s permission, have been sold or otherwise handed over permanently. Showing photographs in Internet is not covered with this provision.
 

You can, however, make photocopies of photographs in accordance with the photocopy license. See further Photocopying. According to the license you can print out copies from Internet and make photocopies from such outputs for teaching purposes. The license is not applied to slides.

Opinions of the Copyright Council: