ASMP Colorado Open Aperture: Getting Copyright Right
Presented by ASMP Colorado & the Colorado Photographic Arts Center (CPAC)
This Open Aperture session focuses on photography copyright law for photographers in Denver, with clear steps to register, license, and enforce your rights… designed to help photographers, filmmakers, and visual creatives protect their work and profit from their rights.
This month’s program features Dave Ratner, Esq., from Creative Law Network, one of the nation’s leading attorneys specializing in intellectual property and entertainment law for creative professionals.
What You’ll Learn
Whether you’re a professional photographer, emerging artist, or content creator, understanding copyright is essential to protecting your livelihood.
In this interactive session, Dave will break down:
- What copyright law really protects — and what it doesn’t.
- How to register your images properly for full legal protection.
- What to do if your work is used without permission or credit.
- How to license your photos for editorial, commercial, and social use.
- Common myths about “fair use” and social media image sharing.
- How AI-generated imagery fits into current copyright law.
Pizza and beverages provided by ASMP Colorado!
Event Details
When: November 13th, 2025
Time: 7:00 p.m.- 8:30 p.m.
Where: Colorado Photographic Arts Center
1200 Lincoln Street #111 Denver, CO 80203
Admission: Members: Free / Non-members: $10
Ticket Link: Eventbrite
This event is co-hosted by ASMP Colorado and the Colorado Photographic Arts Center (CPAC) — part of ASMP’s Open Aperture series, where photographers come together to share ideas, sharpen business skills, and strengthen Colorado’s creative community.
Who Should Attend
- Commercial and editorial photographers
- Fine art photographers
- Videographers, content creators, and digital artists
- Students and emerging professionals in photography or design
- Anyone who’s ever asked: “What happens to my images once they’re online?”
Why It Matters
Why photography copyright law for photographers in Denver matters in today’s digital world: Images travel fast, sometimes faster than credit lines, and understanding copyright registration, usage rights, and licensing agreements empowers photographers to maintain control of their art and ensure they’re compensated fairly.
This session offers actionable legal insight every photographer should know, from filing with the U.S. Copyright Office to responding to infringement or misuse. Photography copyright law for photographers in Denver is a crucial skill that lives outside the grip box.
If you want to read up on copyright before the workshop, see “Copyright and Licensing Basics for Photographers” and “Photography Licensing in Colorado” or “Photography Contracts in Colorado“. And don’t forget the myriad of copyright issues applying to the use of Ai: “Ai and Photography“
About the Speaker
Dave Ratner
It isn’t often that you run into a band manager turned lawyer. But that’s Dave Ratner. During his career in the music business as a tour manager, publicist, band manager, and founder of his own management agency, Dave learned first-hand the important legal considerations and challenges creative professionals face. Dave channeled his passion for the creative arts into Creative Law Network, a law firm specifically serving creative people and businesses. As the principal of Creative Law Network, he leads a team that is passionate about the arts, ensuring creative work is protected, and helping creatives leverage the law to maximize the value of their work.
Dave is a founder and the Advisory Committee Chair of Colorado Attorneys for the Arts, the only organization providing pro bono legal services to artists and arts organizations in the Mountain West. Dave has been one of 5280’s Top Lawyers for Entertainment Law since the magazine began publishing its list of top lawyers and been named both Client’s Best and Barrister’s Best Entertainment Lawyer by Law Week Colorado. Dave is a graduate of Cornell University and the University of Denver College of Law. He is Chair Emeritus of the Sports & Entertainment Section of the Colorado Bar Association, Vice Chair of the Board of Swallow Hill Music, a member of the Silverthorne Art Board, a Director on the Board of Breck Create, a member of the Board of the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts, a graduate of Leadership Denver and Leadership Arts, and a past adjunct professor at the University of Denver College of Law. Dave is licensed to practice law in Colorado and New York.