Wedding photographer has gone AWOL

suited-aces

This is what's wrong with copyright.

x12yhp

Maybe I missed it but I didn't spot much comment about whether the guy was paid or not.

If you paid him then I should think it fairly safe to use the photos. Regardless of copyright, the photographer would be in breach of contract with you so any attempt by him to go after you would be subject to counter claim. It would be a pointless endeavour.

If you did not pay him then it sounds somewhat less simple. Whilst the copyright would belong to him, you could make all sorts of arguements against him. You could ultimately argue that he has taken pictures of you and has breached your privacy due to the lack of completed contract. A total mess really.

It really does sound althought the guy has just left the building. Were he to try and chase you could be construed as fraud/blackmail (i.e. he took the pictures knowing you would want them and basically is holding out to try and sue you for breach of copyright). I would follow the approach suggested by others and get them done yourself. No one will ever know better...

leolion2177

I agree with the poster above - if he has done a runner with your money and not given you the photos - I wouldnt worry about copyright issues with pictures that you are actually in.

Frig him - get your album printed and enjoy your memories.

pixiecheeks

Thanks everyone. It is a complicated situation as he was only ever paid a deposit of £50 and not the complete balance, but thats not for the want of trying. In the end I was practically begging him to return my calls so that we could just pay him and get our wedding album!! What client should be chasing the service provider trying to pay him, shouldn't it be the other way round?? I just got so angry and frustrated after a while, it all seemed pointless and has been the one low point of all the wedding arrangements. caz2703 thanks for the tip about the photobook, going to look into that. I want some nice photos of our wedding and want use some guest shots as well if we go down the photobook route.

geordieracer

leolion2177 wrote: »

I agree with the poster above - if he has done a runner with your money and not given you the photos - I wouldnt worry about copyright issues with pictures that you are actually in.

Frig him - get your album printed and enjoy your memories.

But he didnt get paid and gave her the DVD/CD of her pictures without watermarks..So she has got everything bar the book for free as she has not paid him in full.



Must admit though OP when i came back from Ethiopia i used photobook for my own prints and its the best thing ever - use your DVD/CD to make the best of what you have and realise that you dont have to pay any more money

rowla

It is possible that he has quit being a wedding photographer if he has taken down his website. As you said it should be him chasing you for payment, not the other way round, so I reckon he won't care. However I would try and contact him one last time in writing so these is a written record of you trying to pay him.

He still owns the copyright of the photos and always will unless the contract stated that he was transferring copyright over to you.
However all you want to do is licence the photos to make prints yourself as he didn't provide you the service he was meant to (ie. provide a wedding album)

Does you still have an email address he can be contacted with? If so I would write him an email explaining that you have tried numerous times to contact him to pay him and get your wedding album completed by him. State that you have waited 2 years an can wait no longer and that you intend to create your own album, prints and photobooks from the proofs he provided unless he contacts you within a certain amount of time (give him a week or two to get back to you). Also state that you wish to terminate any verbal or written contract between you and the photographer as he has failed to provide you with the service the contract is based on. And if the contract is terminated no further payments are due to the photographer after the date stated earlier. State the £50 deposit he received will be considered payment for an unlimited licence to reproduce all the photos in your possession. The email will be a record of everything should he suddenly appear demanding payment or claiming copyright theft. Keep all written emails between yourselves in case he does appear. I think he would have been in breach of contract long ago as he failed to provide the service he offered, so he shouldn't have a leg to stand on.

BTW, did he provide the camera RAW files or just jpgs? I presume they are just proofs (ie. unedited jpgs) which would limit the amount of post production you could do to the images to finish the editing. However if he gave you the digital negative (raw file) then you could get someone to edit the photos properly and improve them.