Legal Updates

A work photographed outside of Israel will enjoy copyright protection in Israel if it was first published in Israel

April 7, 2024
Print

A business published a Yom Kippur greeting on social media using a photograph taken in Congo and published for the first time by the photographer in Israel.

The Court accepted the photographer's claim for copyright infringement. Under Israeli law, a "photographic work" may be deemed a protected "artistic work" when the creator showed its originality and ownership of the rights thereto. The work will be deemed protected even if the work was not photographed in Israel, provided that it was first published in Israel. Using a photograph while taking artistic freedom to make changes without permission and without giving credit to the creator of the photograph is an infringementof the rights of the creator. Here, it is an original photograph that is considered a protected artistic work created outside of Israel, but was first published through the photographer's website in Israel. The business published the image with changes, without permission and without a credit to the creator. Therefore, the business infringed upon the copyright in the photograph