Ownership of photographs taken on or after 1 January 1945 but before 1 August 1989

If you are the owner of the material on which the photograph was taken, then you are the first owner.

In addition to the exception to the general rule in the case of employees, there was another exception, which applied where a photograph was commissioned.

If you commissioned the photograph then you would have been the first owner of the copyright, subject to any agreement to the contrary.

If you were an employee and took a photograph for publication in a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical, your employer's ownership of copyright was restricted so that you retained some rights.