ABOU NAJA Talks with Fashion and Street Style Photographer Lina Mo

Digital creators often see their work go viral without prior warning. Songs can be turned into thousands of TikToks, while images can be posted from any location. But, how does a world without boundaries deal with the growing challenge of protecting creators and enforcing their intellectual property rights? Fortunately, Saudi Arabian fashion photographer Lina Mo shared some of her experiences with us.

While the Middle East doesn’t have unified copyright laws, each country has made an effort to create a safe environment for creators to create. For instance, in the UAE photographs are covered under Federal Law 7. As such, they can copyright their work with the Ministry of Economy. In addition, registering intellectual property makes it easier to file a claim in the case of an infringement.

Lina was born and raised in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and was obsessed with photography from a young age. This passion led her to take group photos at family gatherings and to experiment with a compact camera until her mother gifted her with a DLSR camera in 2010.

In addition, Lina has a graduate degree in software engineering as well as a second degree in administrative science. However, in honing her photographic skills Lina chose a different approach. Preferring a more hands-on route, Lina spent hours pouring over YouTube tutorials, experimenting, and practicing to become a better photographer. Her effort finally paid off when she won an online photography contest by Apple.

Lina Mo aptly noted, “It is very important that the work of professional photographers are protected, especially at the age of the internet and social media.”

After that, Lina's photograph Illusion was selected to participate in a nationwide exhibition along with other rising Saudi photographers. In 2016 Lina officially launched her professional career as a street photographer. It was at this time her career really took off with her work quickly gaining recognition and gaining her clients and commissions.

In fact, in 2018 Lina had the opportunity to shoot the cover photo for Saud Arabia's first street-style book Under The Abaya. The book was wildly successful, helping shatter stereotypes and demystifying the global view of Saudi women. Presently, Lina is mostly known for her portraits that mix Saudi Culture with modern art.

Reflecting on finding success and the challenges associated with it, Lina shared that the best and most efficient way to protect one's copyright is to not share and publish your raw files. Copyrights allow photographers to control who can use their work and how it can be used. Specifically, photographers own the rights to their work while clients own the usage rights granted to them in their contract with the photographer.

However, Lina noted that the tedious process of enforcing one's copyrights made her abandon challenging an infringement in the past. The complexity of taking legal action to protect intellectual property rights makes it hard for creators “to be confident that their copyrights are truly protected.” Making a copyright claim can be tiring and difficult but there are several ways to make the process easier. For instance, contacting a lawyer to write the violator a cease and desist letter. This is usually a quick and effective solution.

Or, opening a civil case by paying the required court fee. Another option would be consulting with the government department that enforces copyrights in your country. Lastly, retaining the services of intellectual property experts, like ABOU NAJA Intellectual Property, to do all the heavy lifting.

Finally, the advent of the internet has made it harder to enforce intellectual property rights. However, there are ways of ensuring your rights as a creator. The first and most important step is knowing your rights.  Follow our blog to keep up to date with copyright laws and trends. Also, If you need help or would like to learn more about your rights as a creator, contact us today by dropping us a line at connect@abounaja.com.

For more on Lina Mo, you can follow her on Instagram.