Whenever a photographer takes a picture they become the picture's owner and also acquire the picture's copyright. That means that no one can legally copy the picture without the photographer's authorization. Even if a photographer sells a picture, that does not automatically mean that the copyright goes to the purchaser. The copyright must be explicitly release by the photographer.
It is UpstateHorse policy to release copyrights to all purchasers of images.
For more on copyright law, go to the US Copyright Office web site.
South Carolina has a good website with a searchable form of the state code of laws.
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