Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois

Ownership of the equipment (or film if a film camera or digital medium if a digital camera) is irrelevant unless there was a contractual arrangement between the photographer and the camera owner that specified who the owner of any created image was going to be. For instance in an employment situation an employee may use the company camera and there would normally be an agreement that the images captured would be owned by the employer. But even photography business owners aren't necessarily the copyright owner as to the image -- many studios allow the photographer to retain the original copyright for 'residuals' but have a license to retain and use the images in their business. Otherwise, it is the image that is protected and the person who created the image. As long as there's no such arrangement, the person who captured the image can sell his or her rights to it. It may very well be that sister owns the camera and film or media, but the friend is the copyright owner.

The response given is not intended to create, nor does it create an ongoing duty to respond to questions. The response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to be anything other than the educated opinion of the author. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. The response given is based upon the limited facts provided by the person asking the question. To the extent additional or different facts exist, the response might possibly change. Attorney is licensed to practice law only in the State of Illinois. Responses are based solely on Illinois law unless stated otherwise.

The first question is, what is the big deal regarding who owns these photographs? Is someone selling copies and making lots of money? If not, this is a bit of a pointless argument.

Who owns the camera is absolutely irrelevant. Whether or not she has a "photography business," with or without "papers," is even more irrelevant (or would that be less relevant?), if that is possible. The person who pushes the shutter button in most circumstances is the copyright holder. If the person who pressed the shutter button took the photograph as an employee, the employer might own be the copyright holder. If shutter presser transferred the copyrights to another person in writing, then the transferree might be the copyright holder.