Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Unauthorized use of Photograph

IF the image was posted for free use, you have a defense. IF the site posted them for sale or royalty payment, you owe someone. Go back to the site and check it out. If you find you did not get a 'free use' image, don't panic, everything is negotiable - do so with them. Take the image off all future copies, and tell them you have. If you want counsel to handle this or other matters, feel free to contact me.

Re: Unauthorized use of Photograph

The fact that the image was online does not mean it is available for anyone to use. Much of what you see online is copyrighted, just as is most of what you see on television or in the library. Being able to look at something for free does not mean you have the right to use it for your own purposes for free.

The fact that "an artist" took the photo does not mean that the artist owns the copyright. Copyrights can be sold, and often are. Also, the copyright to works created for a client will usually belong to that client.

Note too that the company does not claim it owns the image. Instead, it claims only to "represent" it. In other words, whoever does own the image has agreed to let this agency monitor its use and enforce the copyright on his or her behalf. You are thus in much the same situation as the many people who illegally downloaded copyrighted music and are being sued by the Recording Industry Association of America rather than by the recording artists themselves.