BILDMANIPULERING

able to judge for themselves what has happened
before or after the moment a photograph
was taken. Nor do they know what occurred
in proximity to the situation in question.
Using modern computers and graphics
processing programs, one can, in principle,
make any conceivable change in drawings
and photographs as well as in moving pictures
on film and video. For a person with the
necessary skills and access to the right equipment,
there are almost no limitations. Thousands
of pictures of various standard backgrounds
and foregrounds – depicting different
types of landscapes, city environments,
people, plants, animals, etc. – can be combined
to form an endless number of entirely or
partly new picture motifs. In this context,
naturally, interesting ethical questions arise,
which are neither trivial nor in any way easy
to answer.
Digitally manipulated photographs began
to appear in the daily press in the mid-1980s.
The introduction of digital pictures and
electronic transmission of pictures has had a
radical effect on how pictures are dealt with at
various stages of production as well as on how
readers perceive these pictures. Technical
developments have fundamentally changed
our presumptions concerning credibility in
photographs. Photos need no longer have
natural ties to the film-based original. Today,
one can, in principle, make changes in a picture
at any point, from the very moment the
photograph is taken until it is published. The
reader is no longer able to detect whether a
published picture has been manipulated or
not.
The law relating to photography ceased to
be in effect on 1 July 1994, at which point regulations
concerning the right to photographs
were subsumed under the copyright laws.
The financial and idealistic interests of photographers,
authors, draughtsmen, songwriters
and other originators of creative works are
protected by the copyright law relating to literary
and artistic works (Copyright Act, URL,
SFS 1960:729). Since 1 January 1996, artistic
works are protected for the originator's entire
life plus an additional 70 years. Thus, many
works are protected for more than 120–130
years. This protection is international. The
economic right implies the sole right of the
originator to determine duplication of the
work – the making of copies and presentation
of the work in public. For "picture theft"
occurring intentionally or through gross negligence,
the penalty is fines or imprisonment
for up to two years.
The ethical rules for the press, radio and tv
clearly take exception to manipulation or falsification
of picture content through trimming,
montage or misleading captions. Presenting
inauthentic pictures as though they
were real documentary material is forbidden.
The party purchasing the pictures is responsible
for their proper use. Despite these rules,
clear violations occur all too often.
Photographers and draughtsmen as well
as their organisations stipulate in their terms
of delivery that published pictures shall be
correct. Those purchasing the right to publish
the pictures may not use them in a misleading
manner. Nor may they make a picture montage
or retouch electronically such that the
results can mislead or delude the reader or
viewer. Today, one does not have the right to
change the content of any picture without the
express permission of the holder of the right to
that picture.
It is obvious that technical developments
have fundamentally changed conditions for
our ability to use pictures in different contexts
as well as for the credibility of all pictures. In
practice, individual newspaper readers and tv
viewers no longer have any real opportunity
to discover whether a published picture has
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