Legal & Usage
All photographs, images, and visual content displayed and sold on this website are the exclusive intellectual property of Focal Point Photography and are fully protected under United States and international copyright law, including but not limited to the Copyright Act of 1976 (17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.) and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Every image on this website — whether available for purchase, displayed as portfolio work, used in promotional materials, or embedded anywhere on this platform — is legally owned by and belongs solely to Focal Point Photography. These works are protected from the moment of their creation and no license, right, or permission to reproduce, distribute, display, or otherwise use these images is granted unless explicitly stated in writing.
Unauthorized use of any photograph or image from this website is strictly prohibited and will not be tolerated under any circumstances. This includes, but is not limited to, the following actions:
If you are unsure whether a specific use is permitted, you must contact us in advance before proceeding. Permission is never implied — it must always be explicitly granted in writing.
Theft of any photograph from this website — whether through direct download, screenshot, screen capture, right-click saving, or any other method of extraction — constitutes copyright infringement and is a federal offense under United States law. Copyright infringement can result in significant civil and criminal penalties. Under 17 U.S.C. § 504, statutory damages for copyright infringement range from $750 to $30,000 per work infringed, and in cases of willful infringement, damages can reach up to $150,000 per work. Additionally, under criminal copyright law (17 U.S.C. § 506), willful infringement for commercial advantage or financial gain can result in fines and imprisonment. We take the theft of our work extremely seriously and actively monitor the internet for unauthorized use of our images using digital fingerprinting and image recognition technology. Any and all unauthorized uses discovered will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.
When you purchase a photograph from Focal Point Photography, you are purchasing a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use that image for your own personal, non-commercial purposes only — unless a different license type has been explicitly agreed upon in writing at the time of purchase. The sale of a photograph does not constitute a transfer of copyright. Focal Point Photography retains full copyright ownership of every image at all times, regardless of how many copies have been sold or to whom.
Reselling, redistributing, sublicensing, transferring, gifting, or otherwise sharing any purchased photograph with any third party is strictly prohibited and constitutes a direct violation of your purchase agreement and of copyright law. This applies regardless of whether the redistribution is done for profit or for free. Giving a purchased photo to a friend, posting it publicly so others may download it, uploading it to a stock image site, selling it on another platform, or including it in a product sold to others are all violations of this policy and of federal copyright law. It does not matter if no money changes hands — unauthorized redistribution is still theft of intellectual property and will be treated as such.
Any individual or entity found to be reselling, redistributing, sublicensing, or otherwise transferring purchased photographs without written authorization will face immediate and serious consequences. These consequences may include, but are not limited to:
We maintain detailed purchase records, transaction logs, and digital watermarking on our images. Tracing unauthorized redistribution back to the original purchaser is entirely possible and will be pursued whenever discovered. By completing a purchase on this website, you agree to these terms in full. Ignorance of this policy is not a valid defense.
We want to be clear: this is not an effort to make the experience of purchasing our photography difficult or unpleasant. We are deeply passionate about our craft, and every photograph represents hours of work, creative vision, technical skill, and dedication. When someone steals or illegally redistributes our images, they are not just breaking the law — they are devaluing our livelihood and the art form we have devoted ourselves to. We appreciate and deeply value every customer who supports our work through a legitimate purchase. These policies exist to protect the integrity of our art and ensure we can continue creating for years to come. Thank you for your understanding and your respect for our work.
We understand that technology isn't always perfect — files get lost, devices break, storage fails, and downloads sometimes don't go as planned. If you have purchased a photograph from Focal Point Photography and have since lost access to that file, we want to make sure you are able to get what you paid for. Please follow the steps below carefully depending on your situation.
The first and easiest step is to visit our Customer Portal. This portal is where all of your purchases are stored and available for re-download. To access the portal, you will need to use the exact same email address that you used when you originally completed your checkout. The portal uses a secure, passwordless login system — when you enter your email, a verification link will be sent to that address. You must click that link in your email inbox in order to log in. Once logged in, you will be able to see all purchases associated with that email address and download your files directly from the portal.
If you are unable to access the email address associated with your purchase and therefore cannot log into the customer portal, please send an email to us with the subject line: "Purchase Recovery Request." In your email, you must include the following:
Once we receive your request, we will manually look up your purchase in our records using the information provided. We will verify that the purchase exists and that the details match what is on file. This process may take a short amount of time depending on request volume, so we appreciate your patience. Once your purchase has been successfully verified, we will send your purchased photo directly to you via email — this will be sent to whatever email address you contact us from, so please make sure you are emailing from an address you have full access to and check regularly.
Please note that we take purchase verification seriously and reserve the right to request additional information if we are unable to confirm a purchase with the details initially provided. This process exists to protect both our customers and the integrity of our sales records. We will never knowingly send a purchased file to someone who did not originally purchase it, and we ask for your patience and cooperation in providing the necessary proof so that we can serve you as quickly and accurately as possible. We truly appreciate your support of Focal Point Photography and want to make sure every customer has a positive experience — including being able to access what they paid for, even when things don't go perfectly the first time.