Re: Church Website Copyright

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Personally, I'd let him try to sue me. Copyright belongs to
the person who took the photograph unless expressly
transferred by written instrument. He has no right to the
photograph if he did not take it and the person taking it did
not sign over the rights to him.

This is personal advice only, not legal advice. I am not your
attorney. If you are sued, please see a licensed attorney from
your state.

On 9/29/08, Amy Trevino wrote:
> Our church had a website and someone from within the church
> membership volunteered to be Web Administrator. He has
> since left the church and I am now running the site. We
> canceled our account with the web hosting service that was
> used he was admin and have built a whole new site using a
> completely different hosting service. He is now claiming
> that some of the pictures we have used were copyrighted
> under his company and we can't use them. They are staff
> photos and church photos, taken with the church camera,
> mostly by the church pastor or other church members for the
> express purpose of use by the church. There was never any
> contract signed or payment made to this man, as it was all
> on a volunteer basis, something he told our pastor he had
> the desire to do. Does he have any legal grounds for
> copyright infringement?
>
> Thanks,
> Amy
>
>
>