Copyright wrangle over professional photographs used online

A US photographer has taken a media company to court in a multi-million pound case. 

Photographer Melissa Korman was employed by a media company to take photos of events for one of its magazines.  The photographer charged the media company for the photographs and received $820.  However, the magazine then changed hands and the assets – which included the photographs, transferred to a new company.

When the magazine landed on the shelves at a later date, the photographer saw lots of her photos and wrote asking that the company remove them or pay her.  They also appeared online which the photographer says goes against the agreement she had with the magazine.  She requested they were removed or alternatively she was paid a fee for each used.   The magazine failed to reply and continued publishing her images,

The photographer is arguing that the magazine had no right to use the images but the newspaper is arguing that it does have the rights and when it did write back, it even threatened to take a restraining order against the photographer in question.

In this case, it seems the photographer is issuing high demands from the company and it’s unlikely she will win her case. However, it does demonstrate how important it is that professional photographers outline in a contract, exactly what can and can’t be done with images they’ve taken and sold to a client.  Can they use the photos on a website?  Can they make duplicate copies? Can they sell on the images?  Make sure you have everything written clearly in black and white so there’s no confusion.  If you do end of having to pursue a legal case, a contract will go in your favour.    For any advice on professional photography insurance or copyright rules, please call the InFocus team.