Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

I'm an independent hairstylist and recently left a salon that has a Facebook page including albums of each stylist, each stylist's contact information, and each had the option of posting photos of their work. Because I left, I naturally expected to be taken off of the page. I was taken off but the owner kept the photos of MY work up with no citation or reference to me. The owner of the salon is now using the photos of my work without my consent and showing them off as 'general salon' photos. I also have signed consent forms from my clients allowing me to use their images whereas the salon owner does not. I have not yet confronted this issue with the owner. I would like to know what rights I, and the salon owner, have if there are no legal copyrights to these images. Also, is a copyright necessary or possible in this case? Is it something I should obtain in the future?


Asked on 6/07/10, 12:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Trezanay Atkins tmalaw llc

(1) The person who TOOK the photos (i.e. the photographer) is the copyright owner of the photos. If you are not the one who took the pictures of your clients, then you have no right to the return of the actual photos or demand that they be taken off Facebook.

(2) Notwithstanding the above, the persons that are pictured in the photographs can demand that the pictures be taken off Facebook if they did not give the salon owner consent to use them to advertise the salon. I see that your clients gave YOU consent to use their images; the question is whether this consent trickles down to the salon owner since you were hired by the salon/employee of the salon (I would need more details about the relationship between you and the salon are needed to answer this question). Nevertheless, only your clients (i.e. not you) can try to demand the photos be taken down because it is their image/persona that is in the photo.

In sum, if you weren't the photographer of any of the photos, then you have no right to the return of the photos/demand they be taken off Facebook, and if you're not pictured in any of the photos, then you aren't likely to have standing to pursue a claim that the photos not be used in advertising the salon.

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Answered on 6/07/10, 4:31 pm


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