Legal Question in Business Law in Virginia

Rights to photographs of work

I've recently started a custom cabinet shop. I would like to send a brochure containing photographs of my work to potential clients. This work was done while I was in the employ of other cabinet shops. If I take the photographs, with the permission of the owners of the cabinets, what would I need in the way of waivers, letters of permission, etc., to legally use these photographs? Do I need these documents from the shop owners, the architect/designer, the general contractors, the owner of the cabinets, any or all of them? I don't want to violate anybody's rights and I don't want to get sued for infringement of copyright, or anything like that, but I don't want to seek permission from any more people than I have to.


Asked on 10/01/01, 7:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Randy Masters The Law Office of Randy Masters

Copyright Law and Photographs of work

Copyright protects work such as photographs, novels, recorded music performances, plays, videos, video games, C-D ROMS, etc. To qualify for copyright protection, a work must be "fixed in a tangible medium of expression." This means that virtually any form of expression will qualify as a tangible medium.

But now to your question. You are taking photographs of your product--your creation. There is no violation of anyone else's copyright. There would be a violation if you were to print someone else's copyrighted photos.

As far as waivers go, you might want to put a clause in your contracts that state that the customers are granting you the right and authorization to use photographs of their cabinets in further promotional materials. But since the cabinets are your handiwork, I don't see any problems down the road anyway (certainly not any copyright violations), as long as the photos are only of your handiwork.

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Answered on 11/07/01, 8:46 am


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