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Copyright
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I’m currently taking interior shots for a holiday home company. I’m hired as a private contractor and I have not signed any contract. The company is based in the UK. Do I own the copyright to the images?
The company claim that they own the rights.
I believe that depends on the agreement between yourself and the company the job is for.
If you’re working as their direct employee, then it’s highly likely your contract causes your work product when acting on their behalf to be their copyrighted material.
If you’ve been commissioned to do the photography for them, in your own business, or as a sole trader, then whatever the contract between you and them says is how it is… so if you didn’t give them a contract to sign that spelled out who owns the images, then it’s probably a “grey area” where they might be able to make a legal claim stick, and you might be able to, but they’ll likely have an entire “legal department” to fight you over it, whereas you’ll probably have you, and might have a single solicitor. (If that solicitor is good, he might very well win, but you might get bankrupted by his bill.)You should always make sure that you know who retains the copyright on the images before you agree to click your shutter.
If you’re doing shoots for your own customers, you should still have a contract that spells out whether or not the client “purchases” the copyright fro you, if you retain the copyright but give them specific rights to use the photos for any reasons, with a clause saying they need to obtain permission from you before using them for any other purpose..can’t forget that clause, or if you retain the copyright and grant them no right to use the images for any reason without a separate contract with yourself for each usage case.
Always make sure the are signed by someone who has the authority to act on behalf of the company you’re working for. If Joe Bloggs from the mail room signs for a multinational, they’re not likely to be held bound due to the excuse “Joe Bloggs was not authorised to commit the company to contractual obligations” etc..
There should be some example contracts available online, although I think most of them are U.S. law, so you might not find anything particularly useful in Ireland, in which case contracting a solicitor to draw up a contract or set of contracts that you can use to protect yourself, and explain to you exactly when to use each one, would be a good idea.
MikeCel wrote:
I’m hired as a private contractor and I have not signed any contract. The company is based in the UK. Do I own the copyright to the images?
If you did not sign a contract before you did the work, then you were not actually hired by anyone here.
You simply agreed to hire yourself – to produce some images for them (and possibly others too) to use afterwards.
Images which you would naturally own, after you took them or produced them or even created them.So yes, you would naturally own those images afterwards – and it’s the Copyright Law that protects your Rights to how they are copied or used by others.
Now comes the all important bit, i.e. What do you want them to pay you for ?
Do you now just want them to pay you for the Rights to use your images OR do you now want them to pay you for ‘your time & expenses’ instead of or in exchange for the Rights to use your images ?Ideally, before you did the work, you should have told them which it was – so as you would both clearly understood what the deal here – thereby avoiding any misunderstandings afterwards.
But even if you didn’t – until they pay you, you own those images and the Rights to use them too – and it’s the Copyright Law that protects your Rights here.Heebie wrote:
I believe that depends on the agreement between yourself and the company the job is for.
If you’re working as their direct employee, then it’s highly likely your contract causes your work product when acting on their behalf to be their copyrighted material.
If you’ve been commissioned to do the photography for them, in your own business, or as a sole trader, then whatever the contract between you and them says is how it is… so if you didn’t give them a contract to sign that spelled out who owns the images, then it’s probably a “grey area” where they might be able to make a legal claim stick, and you might be able to, but they’ll likely have an entire “legal department” to fight you over it, whereas you’ll probably have you, and might have a single solicitor. (If that solicitor is good, he might very well win, but you might get bankrupted by his bill.)You should always make sure that you know who retains the copyright on the images before you agree to click your shutter.
If you’re doing shoots for your own customers, you should still have a contract that spells out whether or not the client “purchases” the copyright fro you, if you retain the copyright but give them specific rights to use the photos for any reasons, with a clause saying they need to obtain permission from you before using them for any other purpose..can’t forget that clause, or if you retain the copyright and grant them no right to use the images for any reason without a separate contract with yourself for each usage case.
Always make sure the are signed by someone who has the authority to act on behalf of the company you’re working for. If Joe Bloggs from the mail room signs for a multinational, they’re not likely to be held bound due to the excuse “Joe Bloggs was not authorised to commit the company to contractual obligations” etc..
There should be some example contracts available online, although I think most of them are U.S. law, so you might not find anything particularly useful in Ireland, in which case contracting a solicitor to draw up a contract or set of contracts that you can use to protect yourself, and explain to you exactly when to use each one, would be a good idea.
Thanks for your reply, Heebie.
I am a private contractor but I’ve not signed any contract. I assume from your answer and Ashley’s response that I do in fact retain the rights to the images. That being said I’ll take your advice on getting a solicitor to draw up some contracts for me, thus avoiding these awkward situations.
Thanks,
Mike
MikeCel wrote:
I’ll take your advice on getting a solicitor to draw up some contracts for me, thus avoiding these awkward situations.
Legal & Business Forms – by the Association of Photographers.
Start with this one…
.. and then work backwards from there – as this is what you will be actually wanting them to pay you to sign at the end of the day.
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