Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Georgia

You should seek the assistance of an intellectual property attorney near you. There are plenty of IP attorneys who would be more than willing to help you.

Some questions the attorney will have are:

1. Are your photographs registered with the Copyright Office?

2. Do you actually own the copyrights to your photographs? For example, if you created the photos in the scope of your employment, they may be work for hire, and you don't own them. If you signed away your rights (in all or in part), you may not be able to stop someone from using the photographs which you created.

3. Have you attempted to ask them to cease and desist? Any contact with them at all?

I wish you luck, and again, be sure to get an intellectual property attorney to help you. A general practice attorney may take your case, but it is better to get one who really knows how to handle this type of issue.

Copyright automatically attaches to all of your photographs the moment you snap a picture with your camera. So long as your photographs were not taken as part of a �work for hire� agreement, you are the exclusive owner of the works. As the exclusive copyright owner of your photographs, you are entitled to the exclusive right to publish, distribute and license your work.

You may have legal remedy, against the website and the company selling posters on the website (if different then website owner) for copyright infringement. Before filing a copyright infringement lawsuit, you must (1) register the photographs with the US Copyright Office (2) send a Cease & Desist notice to the Poster company and (3) possibly send a DMCA take-down notice to the website.

I recommend that you contact an experienced Intellectual Property attorney to resolve this matter on your behalf.

COMMENTS MADE HEREIN ARE NEITHER LEGAL OPINION NOR DO THEY ESTABLISH AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP.