"The photographer is the owner of every photo that they have taken. Even if 2 people take an identical photograph, each photographer will own their own photograph. This includes popular tourist attractions which have their pictures taken several thousand times per day, the photographs may not be terribly unique, but each photo taken is still the property of it's photographer. The term of the copyright is from the time the photo was taken until the remainder of the year you die, plus 50 years."