Hi, I can't help but throw my two cents in here. As a photographer, I maintain copyright on all images I take, regardless of whether you "hired" me to take them or not. You see, I am not your employee, and therefore you cannot own the results of my work. You did not purchase my equipment for me. You did not train me to do my job. I receive no benefits from you outside of the fee I charge for my services. That said, I am very liberal with the permission to use clause, and only ask that if you publish my work, you give me credit for the images. Personally, I see my photo in your published work as free advertisement for my business, and as long as you make sure my name stays attached, I'm happy. :-) However, I do draw the line at you giving my work to someone else to publish. For instance, you give my photo to a cousin, and she then publishes it or makes unlimited copies for other people, say as a giveaway on rootsweb. That hurts my business. :-( I would prefer you refer her to me, and let her make the same deal you did, or pay a small fee for publishing rights. And, as a final note, I have serious problems with a photographer who refuses to allow anyone to share the photos she took at a family reunion, especially given the fact that she herself does not safeguard the negatives. I cannot promise that the originals I keep will never be lost or damaged (bad things happen), but I keep those images as safe as possible, and that is one of the perks to hiring someone like me to take your photos. You can rest assured there will always be a back-up copy if you need one. Hope this helps, Lee Anders