Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

I am selling a selection of photographs from my personal image archive, and granting full copyright of the imagery to the new owner by executing a Copyright Assisgnment Agreement. The financial transaction is being performed using a legal business name (sole proprietor) that is registered with the county (New York City) with myself as the owner. My question is: Can I execute the Copyright Assignment Agreement in the business name instead of my personal name as the photographer? If not, what legal device would I need to use to sign as the business name as opposed to revealing my personal name?


Asked on 7/01/15, 10:07 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Roman Fichman Esq. Law Practice of Roman Fichman Esq.

Generally speaking, a sole proprietorship is not a business entity rather it allows one to do business under a trade name. From a legal protection point of view there is no advantage to being a sole proprietor.

If you have registered the copyrights for the images with the US Copyright Office in your name then the use of a trade name might create confusion between the registered copyright holder and the trade name which would appear in the license agreement. If you haven't secured copyrights for your images then that should be your most immediate priority.

If these images are valuable to you you should and you have concerns about your privacy then you should consult an intellectual property attorney. Feel free to contact me directly. I offer discounted flat fees to freelancers and startups.

Roman R. Fichman, Esq.

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Answered on 7/02/15, 7:48 am


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