Legal Question in Consumer Law in Virginia

Re: Photograph Copyright

The photo company that took the picture which, presumably your son consented to appear in, doesn't need your parental consent in order to copyright material which they created and which belongs to them.

Re: Photograph Copyright

I seriously doubt that the photography company

actually copyrighted your son's photo, although

they theoretically could.

On the one hand, the photography company cannot

take, copy, or sell your son's photograph without

your consent (your's because he is too young

to speak for himself).

On the other hand, the artist (or photographer)

does have rights in the photograph itself.

In other words BOTH you (your son) AND the

artist (photographer) must consent for the use

or sale of the photograph. If either you say

no or they say no, it cannot be used.

So, although the company has no rights to your

son's image (without your consent) they do have

rights to the particular rendition they created

by taking the photograph. To make it obvious,

you are of course free to take as many photographs

of your own as you desire. But for the particular

photograph that they took, you have to pay them

for that particular rendition.