Copyright on Photographic Images and Debt.

Not sure if this is the correct forum for this question, but it is a two pronged query.

I am owed €1800+ for commissioned photography. All the images were used in a book. I am credited in the book as the photographer.

Six months after ignoring all invoices and statements (and having already paid the designer of the book and the printer) the client said that he didn't like the images.

All registered letters have been ignored.

While the legal route is probably not worth it for the amount involved, it has been indicated to me that there may be an issue of breach of copyright and that this may be worth more than the amount owed and therefore worth my while pursuing.

Could someone with some knowledge of copyright law confirm if this is indeed the case?

Many thanks.

D.

I is still not be worth taking them to court re the copyright. Read up on the 2000 Copyright Act. We took someone to court 7/8 years ago on a fairly clean open and shut case. It cost about 40K IEP, we won, but have yet to see one Pence/Cent.

Unless you signed something stating that you were passing the copyright to the publisher or licensing it to them for the life of the book you are the legal copyright owner of those photos and the company cannot use them without your written permission. So they most likely are in breach of copyright. Whether or not this is worth following up legally, I don't know.

If the publisher is a member of the Irish book publishers association (Cle) then it might be worth contacting them for advice. The website is www.publishingireland.com

Hi Sar,

I wasn't commissioned by the publisher, but by the author's husband. All my dealings were with him. He passed on the images to the designer and printer, with whom I had no dealings.

So, I'm not sure if the publisher can be in breach of anything to do with me?

Many thanks.

D.

Sar said:

Unless you signed something stating that you were passing the copyright to the publisher or licensing it to them for the life of the book you are the legal copyright owner of those photos and the company cannot use them without your written permission.

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I was told by a leading photographer that by law, the photographer owns the copyright regardless. The photographer can grant permission for the photos to be used, but will still retain the copyright.

If you are commissioning a photographer, you should ensure that the photographer grants perpetual licence for unlimited usage of the photographs.