Make up artist has same rights of photos as photographers?

[daveb]

Paco and Melissa - just a clarification
I can SELL (assign rights to) any image that i OWN (read as create) with or without a model release. Period Paragraph.

Model releases come into play on the USE side of the equation and as Paco pointed out. Use, in this conversation is not the same as sell.

Also some conditions (non commercial - editorial - self promotional) a model release doesn't even enter the equation.

Those are the harsh facts. It is petty cut and dried except when the photographer is working with other protected works (photographing a sculpture for instance or in a famous case a copyrighted dance choreography)

But we do often work in a collaborative environment so provisions are sometimes made to grant license to the collaborators so they have use of the work for their needs -
My MUA agreement grants perpetual limited rights to the MUA (and model if a tftp deal) to use the works for self-promotion providing I am credited as the photographer in addition the MUA is acknowledged in credited work that I publish. But at the end of the day i maintain copyright.

Why the tough line on my part (really I am a nice guy) ... I have gotten burned on the sharing ownership deal before (to the tune of several grand) vowed never to go down that rosy road again. So, while I am personally very laid back I do protect my work with a vengeance.(want my IP lawyers number :) )

[texxter]

I can SELL (assign rights to) any image that i OWN (read as create) with or without a model release. Period Paragraph.

It is correct that you can assign rights you have to others. But you cannot bypass the restrictions of those rights or grant rights you don't own. For example, let's say you create an image of a piece of art whose copyright belongs to someone else. You can assign the copyright you have on your image to someone else, but whoever gets that assignment is still bound by the restrictions the original owner had, i.e., he or she cannot make commercial use of the image unless the owner of the copyrighted work depicted on the image gives permission to do so.

Maybe this is splitting hairs, but what I am trying to say is that the creator of an image owns the copyright over the image, and that copyright doesn't mean unlimited rights. Even an assignment of rights is subject to limitations defined by the rights of others.

[daveb]

Paco... a correct hair split !