Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Florida
Photographs
A friend had a photo taken by his girlfriend, while traveling on the road. She put it online for him on his computer, in his profile. They have since broken up and now she wants him to remove the picture from his profile and the computer entirely. She claims she owns the picture, even though she gave it to him as a gift. He didn't sign anything, and didn't hire her to take pictures of him. It was just a snapshot taken when they were together, like normal couples do. Can she leagally make him remove this picture, or is it okay to leave it onliine? He lives in Florida, and she now lives back in NY.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Photographs
Gee, that's a sticky question. In general, a photographer owns the copyright in the photos she makes, unless she does it as an employee. And in general, when someone gives or sells an embodiment of an artistic work (such as a print of a photo) to someone else, the recipient doesn't automatically get the right to publish copies.
But by putting up the photo on the Web, it would be inferred that she granted him permission at the time under her copyright. Whether that permission was irrevocable or was potentially subject to being revoked later, then comes down to a question of the specific facts of the situation.
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