I am confused, I am upset, I do not know where I stand!
Last June I took some photos and allowed my employer to use them for advertising. I never got paid, I never had an issue. Until today!
I left the job in January, today I got home from my new job to find an advertising leaflet through my door with MY photos on it! I was wondering if anyone knows where I stand on this? Do these photos still belong to me? I thought my previous employer needed to ask my permission before using my shots?
That sucks, and your old employers are little gits - but most companies will try and push their luck. I hope you dont do free work again, esp for advertising! Did you tell them the photo's were for one advertising campaign (last June)?
As you're in the UK, you still own copyright unless you signed a contract otherwise.. and they should've at the very least, got in touch. You could send them a bill, and see what happens.
If you took them as a part of your job to the company, they own them, otherwise you own them. The copyright belongs to you always if you took them as your own pictures.
yup afraid to say that there is not a lot you can do, like dorrena says the copyright is only yours if you took the photos as a freelance photographer, if you are employed in a company then all photos taken within company hours are copyright your employer.
There is one particular line in your paragraphs above that have screwed you: ...and allowed my employer to use them for advertising.
Here is how photographic copyright law works. And...I am only 100% certain about this for the United States, but I have found in my experience that copyright law throughout much of the EU is the same.
Firstly, a photographer owns the copyright of a creative work the moment the original photograph is first taken, and owns the copyright for all eternity. There are only two ways your employer would have owned the copyright to that photo from the beginning:
1. Taking that photograph was part of your job description, and you used company equipment to take the photo.
2. You were hired either freelance, on commission, or the photo was purchased from you after you had taken it.
If either of those apply, they own the copyright. However, I have a feeling you took the photo yourself, on your own "unpaid" time, and used your own equipment.
The problem comes from letting them use it in the first place. Here is where I find so, so, so many first-time and amateur photographers go wrong. In the world of creative arts, allowing a entity such as a person, organization, or corporation to use your photograph with full knowledge of the artist is the same as a photography licensing agreement.
Basically, you did this: by allowing them to use your photo once, while still their employee, you unknowingly have allowed them to use your photo however they wish, wherever they wish, forever.
It is a common problem I see people make all the time, and unfortunately you are pretty much left out in the cold on this one. I'm sorry if this is becoming a bit of a long answer to your question, I just want to be thorough, but I have a perfect example for you.
I do a lot of work with Habitat for Humanity, my local affiliate anyway (the parent organization is a bitch to me and my photography, please excuse the language!). I will routinely shoot photos at the construction site, special events, holidays, in their ReStores, anything they need and I donate my services in doing so. Honestly, I use it as a tax write-off, but I'm also providing Habitat with high-quality photos that help their cause.
From the very beginning I had the director of the local affiliate sign a contract. Although I give them the photos freely, there are still "terms of use". These terms include such things as not being able to resale any of these photos for profit, they cannot give them freely or sale to any other media outlet such as newspapers and magazines, and they are only allowed to use them electronically or in print on their own property.
I'm sorry to say, you've lost this battle. You allowed your employer to use your photos once, with full knowledge of what they were doing, and so you have by default given up your copyright the same as if you'd sold it. In the future, even if you are giving photos away for free, be sure to get the person to sign a similar contract. Give them a time frame for using the photo, such as three months or up to a year. In fact, include a clause that states they are only allowed to use your photo while you are still an employee! Maybe that will be incentive to keep you around ;)
I hope this hasn't been too long. Sorry it doesn't really help, but rather just answers your question.
@judifff Just checked the law in the UK (as it can differ from other countries) but Jason is right in the fact you have no leg to stand on:
"Who owns the copyright on photographs?
Under law, it is the photographer who will own copyright on any photos he/she has taken, with the following exceptions:
* If the photographer is an employee of the company the photos are taken for, or is an employee of a company instructed to take the photos, the photographer will be acting on behalf of his/her employer, and the company the photographer works for will own the copyright."
Sorry.
Write a Reply
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
As you're in the UK, you still own copyright unless you signed a contract otherwise.. and they should've at the very least, got in touch. You could send them a bill, and see what happens.
Here is how photographic copyright law works. And...I am only 100% certain about this for the United States, but I have found in my experience that copyright law throughout much of the EU is the same.
Firstly, a photographer owns the copyright of a creative work the moment the original photograph is first taken, and owns the copyright for all eternity. There are only two ways your employer would have owned the copyright to that photo from the beginning:
1. Taking that photograph was part of your job description, and you used company equipment to take the photo.
2. You were hired either freelance, on commission, or the photo was purchased from you after you had taken it.
If either of those apply, they own the copyright. However, I have a feeling you took the photo yourself, on your own "unpaid" time, and used your own equipment.
The problem comes from letting them use it in the first place. Here is where I find so, so, so many first-time and amateur photographers go wrong. In the world of creative arts, allowing a entity such as a person, organization, or corporation to use your photograph with full knowledge of the artist is the same as a photography licensing agreement.
Basically, you did this: by allowing them to use your photo once, while still their employee, you unknowingly have allowed them to use your photo however they wish, wherever they wish, forever.
It is a common problem I see people make all the time, and unfortunately you are pretty much left out in the cold on this one. I'm sorry if this is becoming a bit of a long answer to your question, I just want to be thorough, but I have a perfect example for you.
I do a lot of work with Habitat for Humanity, my local affiliate anyway (the parent organization is a bitch to me and my photography, please excuse the language!). I will routinely shoot photos at the construction site, special events, holidays, in their ReStores, anything they need and I donate my services in doing so. Honestly, I use it as a tax write-off, but I'm also providing Habitat with high-quality photos that help their cause.
From the very beginning I had the director of the local affiliate sign a contract. Although I give them the photos freely, there are still "terms of use". These terms include such things as not being able to resale any of these photos for profit, they cannot give them freely or sale to any other media outlet such as newspapers and magazines, and they are only allowed to use them electronically or in print on their own property.
I'm sorry to say, you've lost this battle. You allowed your employer to use your photos once, with full knowledge of what they were doing, and so you have by default given up your copyright the same as if you'd sold it. In the future, even if you are giving photos away for free, be sure to get the person to sign a similar contract. Give them a time frame for using the photo, such as three months or up to a year. In fact, include a clause that states they are only allowed to use your photo while you are still an employee! Maybe that will be incentive to keep you around ;)
I hope this hasn't been too long. Sorry it doesn't really help, but rather just answers your question.
"Who owns the copyright on photographs?
Under law, it is the photographer who will own copyright on any photos he/she has taken, with the following exceptions:
* If the photographer is an employee of the company the photos are taken for, or is an employee of a company instructed to take the photos, the photographer will be acting on behalf of his/her employer, and the company the photographer works for will own the copyright."
Sorry.