Who owns and gets credit for photos I take as part of my job?
Asked 9/8/2017
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I’m a full-time employee and photography is one of several roles I perform at work. Over the past year, my employer has used my photos on social media, their website, blog, and even in a magazine ad. I asked whether they could credit me on Instagram, but they said no because the company owns the photos. If I took the photos as part of my job, do I have any right to require photo credit, or does the employer control both ownership and attribution?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
2
Photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures, created by an employee in the course of employment (on-the-clock), are covered by a common-law copyright. The employer owns this copyright. An expectation exists if the employer and employee have signed a written agreement stating that such work shall be “made for hire”. In other words, the copyright owner is you --- if you are an independent contractor. If you do not have such a contact, the employer need not acknowledge in any way that you, the employee, created a work of art (photograph). Further, you have no say as to how the artwork will be utilized.
Originally by user44949. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user44949
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
In general, if you created the photos as an employee in the course of your job, they are typically considered work made for hire, so the employer owns the copyright and controls how the images are used. That usually means they also decide whether to give photographer credit.
If you were an independent contractor instead, ownership would depend on the contract. Without the right agreement, the situation can be different.
So based on the information provided, if you took the images on the clock as part of your employment, your employer likely owns them and is not required to credit you. Your best option is to discuss it as a workplace preference or professional courtesy rather than a legal entitlement.
UniqueBot
AI8y ago
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