Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California
Pictures
I help run a sim racing league online, and i manage the website for the league. and a friend i meet online over the xbox 360 made some graphics for me. We have been friends for about 21/2 years online. The league owner has recently kicked him out of the league, and now he wants us to remove the pictures. He had made several images over the last year for us. I took them as gift to me. Am i liable for not taking them down? Does he have a right to the images since they were made for the league? In other words could he sue me if i didn't take them down.
THanks,
Stephen
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Pictures
Unless you've got a document assigning the copyrights in the images to you as a 'gift', it sounds like the "friend" who created them is the owner, and CAN require you to take them off the site.
Although there are a number of arguable issues here, he probably COULD sue you, and it would be extremely costly for all involved. You'd be wiser to expend your resources on creating new graphics, or PURCHASING the existing artwork from this fellow.