Copy-write help please

[Pappa Lurve]

Evening all,

Quick question - A friend is an artist and had pictures taken of her work. As I understand it, she does not own the copy-write on those pictures until it has been assigned to her. She thus needs to get them assigned under either EU, UK or US law but for the copy-write to apply globally.

Does anyone know about such things, or even better, have a sample contract floating around I can use? I would think this is pretty simple to do and thus would prefer not to pay lawyers to do it.

Any help appreciated.

BTW - I used to be a semi-pro back in my uni days so I occasionally drop in and look at some of the photos on this forum. I wish I had half the talent of some of you guys, some truly lovely photos crop up on here with great regularity.

Cheers

[Simpo Two]

Pappa Lurve said:

A friend is an artist and had pictures taken of her work. As I understand it, she does not own the copy-write on those pictures until it has been assigned to her. She thus needs to get them assigned under either EU, UK or US law but for the copy-write to apply globally.

What you're interested in is copyright, not copywriting which is writing copy (text).

Your friend owns the copyright of her paintings unless assigned otherwise, and - I think - the photographer will own the copyright of the photograph of the paintings. Is there a problem?

[Pappa Lurve]

Good point there - Sorry for my error!

Yeah, the problem is she wants the copy right of the photos themselves as she does not want him to have the ability to sell or distribute them due to the value of her art.

[//dean]

Pappa Lurve said:

she does not want him to have the ability to sell or distribute them due to the value of her art.

I don't think the photorgrapher can, although the photographer holds the rights to the photo, the artist holds the rights to the art. I'm pretty sure the photographer cannot sell the images of said artwork.

[Simpo Two]

What agreement/understanding was in place at the time the photographer was employed? If she didn't want him to use/make money from the photos then this perhaps should have been made clear at the time...?

I think she must have some kind of lien over the usage otherwise the photographer is/could be profiting from her work indirectly. If this is likely to be a financial rather than academic matter then the first stop might be your local CAB who will give you some basic but free legal advice and probably a template letter as well. I can't give you more help than that because my own situation is black and white (no pun intended!) whereas this situation has two layers of artists!

Edited by Simpo Two on Tuesday 25th May 19:41

[Pappa Lurve]

He took the pics but is not a photographer. It was agreed she owned them but they stupidly did not put it in writing.

Seems to me that a simple transfer of the CR should be ok - but is that not the case?

Cheers for all the comments, there seems to be nothing one cannot find out on PH!

ETA - CAB not really great for this if only as they don't seem to offer that kind of advice, plus I am going away for two weeks from tomorrow so while I will have web, I don't think they have CAB in LA!

Edited by Pappa Lurve on Tuesday 25th May 19:55

[Pappa Lurve]

He took the pics but is not a photographer. It was agreed she owned them but they stupidly did not put it in writing.

Seems to me that a simple transfer of the CR should be ok - but is that not the case?

Cheers for all the comments, there seems to be nothing one cannot find out on PH!

ETA - CAB not really great for this if only as they don't seem to offer that kind of advice, plus I am going away for two weeks from tomorrow so while I will have web, I don't think they have CAB in LA!

Edited by Pappa Lurve on Wednesday 26th May 05:30

[Simpo Two]

Pappa Lurve said:

He took the pics but is not a photographer.

He is now

Pappa Lurve said:

It was agreed she owned them but they stupidly did not put it in writing.

Owned the physical prints or the copyright of the photographs? There is a difference!

I'd suggest she calls or writes him a nice letter asking him to confirm in writing that she has copyright of the photos. I don't know the relationship between them but if the request seems too official or she asks him to sign a contract, he might just think 'hang on, there must be some value here' and dig his heels in - which would be unhelpful.

[4hero]

And in future your friend, when displaying her work, puts up a poster saying "no photography allowed"'

[rottie102]

4hero said:

And in future your friend, when displaying her work, puts up a poster saying "no photography allowed"'

Or paint them with a watermark

[Simpo Two]

Must be a jolly good artist if even photographs of her work can be sold for good money.

[Major Bloodnok]

This page has some information. Take note that the page explicitly points out that there are variations in copyright law in different countries, so it's only a guideline. Having said that, it seems to me that it's the photographer who's infringed copyright, unless she gave permission for the images to be taken, in which case, it's down to the usage agreement that was made at the time.

Edited by Major Bloodnok on Tuesday 25th May 23:23

[Pappa Lurve]

They didn't make an agreement, just verbal. They were dating at the time and it's all gone a bit pear shaped so she is trying to be safe. I personally don't think it is a huge issue but she wants a contract in place and so I am trying to help out.

I don't know what her art is, or maybe at some future time, worth but she does seem to have some instillations with some great clients so I guess it is worth protecting.