Re: portaits: verbal agreement and assignment of rights (work for hire)

on 9/9/00 4:33 AM, Thomas Workman at tworkman[_at_]erols.com wrote:

> From your description, the photographs are not made as a work for
> hire. The phrase "work for hire" has a very specific definition
> under US copyright law. It does NOT mean that the photographs were
> made under a contract, but rather that the work was made by an
> "employee" working within the scope of his employment. An employee
> works for a company, and the author of such works is the company, and
> not the employee. If there is a written agreement stating that the
> copyright accrues to someone other than the natural author, then the
> law will recognize that assignment. If the author is not an employee
> working within the scope of his employment, then the work belongs to
> the natural author.
>
> Where in Massachusetts is the photographer??
>
> Thomas Workman, Esq.
> 41 Harrison Street
> Taunton, MA 02780
>

 Very well, be it an employee-employer relation and not a work for hire defined one, between who pays for the work and the photos, (who at the same time is the model of those photos) and the photographer. If we were to stretch the author's right over the stills, then looking at the other way round, the photographer has no consent to use those photos? There is no fair use here? Although the model is well known, these are such special photographs that if publicized without a careful strategy on behalf of the model, may be such a fall pit to her career, that I am sure any court would condemn the photographer. Received on Sat Sep 09 2000 - 08:42:55 GMT