Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Florida
A friend (professional photographer) has casually taken photos of our animals when visiting us, and is now selling the images online. We did not consent to her selling them (but we did OK her using them in her marketing collateral), only to have photos taken while we were socialising together. Our contact details are even visible on the id tags in some photos. What can we do? I don't want strangers having pictures of my pets in their homes or getting my info!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Interesting question. Pets are personal property - not like people - under the law. The pets are your unique and personal property, but not something you created yourself (like an artwork). Your friend, as the photographer, has intellectual property rights to the photographs themselves. I don't believe you have any intellectual property rights to the subject of the photos (the pets); the pets have no rights of publicity or privacy or any such thing. I understand you gave permission to your friend to take the photos, and I don't think that you have any right to control what she does with the photos - to post them on the internet, sell them, etc.
The issue of your contact information visible on the tags is another matter. You should ask her to "photoshop" over the contact information on the tags.
P.S. This question should be in the catagory of Intellectual Property.
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