Disclaimer: I don’t really know what I’m talking about, just opening up a fascinating topic for discussion. Do not take this as legal advice!
The Online Photographer (a site that everyone should read) had a fascinating note about divorce proceedings and ownership of personal pics. Somehow I missed this, as it’s one of those (to me) fascinating subjects that really blur the lines of legality, ethics, and morality.
So here’s the situation: if a husband and wife get together & the wife agrees to have her photo taken, who owns the photos? Legally (as my understanding of the law states), the owner is always the person who physically pushes the button. So some scenarios:
- Wife takes picture of herself & sends to her husband. She owns the pictures.
- Husband takes picture of her. He owns the pictures.
- A couple of tourists hands you their camera and asks you to take a picture with their camera. You own the picture.
Except that my answers (in italics) might very well be wrong. First, remember that I’m not a lawyer. I’m not aware of many legal intricacies.
Now, as a thought: for scenario #1, it’s fairly straightforward. I’m pretty sure copyright would fall on the wife, and therefore ownership. Scenario #2 is trickier. Normally, the husband would be the owner. He clicked, he gets it. However, if a court takes it as a husband-and-wife being a legal entity, then ownership could be stricken down.
Scenario #3 is more straightforward: you might own the copyright, but good luck getting final proof.
Note that I leave ethics and morality out of this. Ethically, I think it falls on the photographer (in any case) to give ownership back to the subject (i.e. in scenario #2, the husband should do the “right thing” and give them back to the wife, regardless of ownership). But who am I to speak for anyone else?
