2 ms·
The fact that the photo studio owns the copyright doesn't mean that they can use the photo is ways they see fit and/or sell it. Copyright is a sword, not a shie
by raganwald 16y ago
The fact that the photo studio owns the copyright doesn't mean that they can use the photo is ways they see fit and/or sell it. Copyright is a sword, not a shield: With copyright they can prevent the use of the image as they see fit.
The right to use an image or likeness of a person as they see fit is conveyed by the model waiver. When you sit for a private, personal portrait session that you pay for, the waiver you sign shouldn't assign all rights to your likeness to the studio.
On the other hand, if you are paid to model something, the waiver you sign probably does give the photog all rights to those images in perpetuity.
But even then there are limitations. Most jurisdictions won't allow an implied endorsement unless the picture was specifically taken for that purpose. For example, if a young model sits for a stock picture which depicts him sitting in an Aeron chair and he later becomes a famous programmer, Aeron cannot buy that picture from the photographer and run an ad saying "Bill Gates loves Aeron Chairs!"