Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California
I requested a press pass on behalf of a local newspaper I work for. I own the images and was not paid by anyone to cover events. Days after the event, the event promoter told me that she really hadn't cared where I put the images but realized she is under and exclusivity contract with the photographer she hired and therefore I am not 'allowed' to use my images except on the newspaper website/print. There was no discussion of my use of images previously, no contract between us, and in fact I had posted some images on my facebook business page and she shared and liked them to her own pages as well to spread the love. What are my rights regarding my images? She says that there is implied use since I represented press that I can only use the images with that press outlet.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Your narrative is more loaded than you might realize. If you are an employee of the newspaper in a pure sense, than the IP rights belong to them not you. If you were not an employee and rather a freelancer, and you are not working under any kind of written agreement then the rights, in this case copyright, remains with you. The implied use alluded to here, seems to speak really as between you and the publication. That is, they receive the implied license to use the content for its intended purpose and you would not be entitled to frustrate that use by, for example, selling the images to a competitor or competing with them directly.
Now, I would want to explore in more detail what you mean when you say you were not paid by anyone. If you received no compensation whatsoever you may have a good argument that the implied license never passed, but it is also possible that payment need not be received. For example, if you did this voluntarily to help a local newspaper or not-for-profit.
The only way you can receive any specific and actionable legal advice here is to consult a lawyer in private and flesh it out in more detail.
If you would like to discuss further over a free phone consult, feel free to contact me anytime that is convenient.
Our firm is now referred by the American Bar Association (see under the New York section):
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/delivery_legal_services/resources/programs_to_help_those_with_moderate_income.html
Kind regards,
Frank
www.LanternLegal.com
866-871-8655
DISCLAIMER: this is not intended to be specific legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. No attorney-client relationship is formed on the basis of this posting.
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